Universal may have bailed on The Dark Tower last month, but director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer‘s multi-platform adaptation of Stephen King‘s seven-part fantasy western epic still has some hope. Grazer told the New York Post that Howard is now “trying to get outside financing to make it, and distribute it through a major studio.”
Even without Universal’s backing, they still plan to go ahead with the TV spin-offs and are looking for outlets at other networks or even Netflix. Javier Bardem is still attached to star, but the project has otherwise been put on hold until next year while Howard turns his attention to the racing movie Rush, which stars Daniel Bruhl (Inglourious Basterds) as Formula 1 champion Niki Lauda and Chris Hemsworth (Thor) as rival driver James Hunt.
The Dark Tower is an unprecedented and very ambitious project, so I can understand a studio balking at the risk. Universal would only commit to one film, but the Grazer/Howard team were already prepared for more with “Heroes” writer/producer Mark Verheiden signed to collaborate with screenwriter Akiva Goldsman (I Am Legend, “Fringe”) on the accompanying TV series that would hold fans over between big screen installments.
I haven’t seen an official proposed budget, but it’d have to be pretty hefty to turn off a studio that just threw over $200 million at Battleship. This news, coupled with all the The Lone Ranger drama, has me baffled at what could possibly make, what are basically souped-up, westerns so darn pricey.
I look at a film like Priest, a film in that same genre, and I’m shocked at what they were able to pull off with a very modest $60 million budget. That movie had a massive train crash scene, Matrix-style fight scenes, custom motorcycles, elaborate futuristic/post-apocalyptic settings and CGI monsters that believably interacted with their surroundings. How much more can you do? And is it really going to make the movie more enjoyable? I realize Bardem probably pulls in fatter checks than Paul Bettany and Johnny Depp is certainly pulling in a pretty penny, but where does the rest of the money go?
Now, no one is going to remember Priest for more than the time it took to watch the thing, but how many big-time blockbusters really stick with us after we’ve left the theater? These movies are designed to entertain us for the amount of time we spend watching them and that’s about it. It shouldn’t cost $200 million to do that.
I have no doubt someone will jump at the project, simply based on the creative team’s history and reputation. I wouldn’t be surprised if Netflix came on board for the TV portion of the project, especially after the deal they struck for David Fincher’s “House of Cards.” They clearly want to show they’re a major player, and that would surely take a lot of the heat off the studio that signs up for the big screen pictures.
Either way, the Dark Tower saga is far from over. And I’m sure it won’t be for some ten years.
