STEPHEN KING BOOK TO BE BOTH TV AND MOVIE SERIES

In a unique movie/TV package, Stephen King’s The Dark Tower will be adapted into a series of movies and television dramas to be directed by Ron Howard. According to the New York Post, the drama will begin with a feature theatrical film. It will then continue as a TV series, followed by a second film and then a second TV season. (The website HeroComplex.com said that a third film is also being considered.) But that plan could be altered, Howard suggested in an interview with the Washington Post. “I really can’t stop thinking about it,” he said. “We’ve been meeting and talking, and I’ve been reading and researching and just kind of living with it. I’ve been constantly going through stuff… and we’ve been sending e-mails back and forth: ‘What about this approach? What do you think of this idea?’ We’re finding the shape of it. We’re moving quickly now — as quickly as we can — and I feel challenged in the most exciting ways.” Plans currently call for the original film to be released in 2013. The New York Post said that Javier Bardem has the inside track on playing the lead character, Roland Deschain, while other publications and websites say that the film will probably star Viggo Mortensen.