Warner Bros to Make Stephen King’s The Dark Tower with Ron Howard?

Last year, Universal passed on Ron Howard's vision for an adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. Since then, Howard and producing partner Brian Grazer have been shopping the project to other studios. According to a new report, the project is now at Warner Bros. and likely to move forward next year.

The original plan was for a trilogy of films and a TV series that would bridge those films together. The entire project would cover all of Stephen King's novels in The Dark Tower series. Deadline reports that Ron Howard is close to signing a deal with Warner Bros. to direct at least the first film. There is still interest in Javier Bardem starring in the film and script writer Akiva Goldsman has been hired by Warner Bros. to do an additional polish on the script.

If this becomes official, the movie could begin filming in the beginning of 2013. Previously, we knew that Howard and Grazer were talking to HBO about possibly taking on the TV series component of The Dark Tower. The report doesn't say how the TV series plans may have changed, but we'll have more details when anything becomes official.

For those who are unfamiliar with The Dark Tower, the series consists of 8 books (with this year's release of The Wind Through the Keyhole), which follow gunslinger Roland Deschain in his quest to reach the Dark Tower: "The opening chapter in the epic Dark Tower series. Roland, the last gunslinger, in a world where time has moved on, pursues his nemesis, The Man in Black, across a desert. Roland’s ultimate goal is the Dark Tower, the nexus of all universes. This mysterious icon’s power is failing, threatening everything in existence."