Universal Passes on The Dark Tower

We've been covering The Dark Tower movie developments since last year, but unfortunately, it looks like Universal has passed on the project. The original plan called for Ron Howard to direct a movie version of Stephen King's The Dark Tower, that would be the first film in a trilogy.

There would also be a TV series starring the same cast that would take place between the films, with the whole project covering the entire book series. They had even gotten to the point of initial casting earlier this year, when news broke that Universal had put the project on hold to look into ways to cut down on the budget.

Universal had until the end of the month to make a decision (for rights reasons), and Deadline is reporting that Universal has passed on green lighting the film: "Insiders said that Universal brass loved the filmmakers and the project, but couldn't make it work with the current budget in its business model."

This is the second major horror-related project Universal has passed on this year. In March, Guillermo del Toro's plans for an R-rated At the Mountains of Madness was cancelled for budgetary reasons. This may not be the end of The Dark Tower, however, as Ron Howard has the option of taking the project to another studio. Deadline mentions that Warner Bros. may be interested, and it seems like a possibility, as Warner Bros. is looking for a new franchise to replace Harry Potter.