The big-screen adaptation of Stephen King’s long-running epic The Dark Tower appears to be moving forward, as reports have begun to circulate that Sony Pictures has begun talks with a director to helm the project.
Writer/director Nikolaj Arcel (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, A Royal Affair) is the studio’s top choice to bring The Dark Tower to the screen, according to Deadline, and negotiations are already underway for him to get behind the camera. If all goes as reported, Arcel will also provide a rewrite on the existing script for the film, which was penned by Oscar-winner Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind) and Jeff Pinkner (The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Fringe).
Arcel is best known for co-writing the screenplay for the 2009, Swedish adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo that starred Noomi Rapace, as well as for directing the Oscar-nominated 2012 period drama A Royal Affair.
The over-arching plan for The Dark Tower is to release both a feature-length film (likely the first in a series) as well as an accompanying television series, with both projects chronicling the saga of Roland Deschain, a “gunslinger” pursuing a mysterious, evil enemy across a blighted world. The eight-novel series wove elements of classic Westerns with supernatural and philosophical themes, and occasionally intersected with some of King’s other novels as it brought in characters from alternate worlds that Roland encounters during his quest.
Adaptations of The Dark Tower have historically struggled to make it to the screen, with movie projects announced at various points only to be canceled or fall into development limbo. A big-screen adaptation was announced back in 2007 with J.J. Abrams attached as director, then another in 2012 with Ron Howard as director, then another in 2012 with Russell Crowe attached to play Roland. The most recent iteration was announced in April.
At this point, there haven’t been any casting announcements for the project and there’s no timeline for its premiere.
