Sony has picked up Stephen King's The Dark Tower after a 10-year attempt to bring the series to the silver screen.
Both Sony and Media Rights Capitol will co-finance the films to be produced by Akiva Goldsman, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Erica Huggins after a decade of pushing to get the film the green light. Jeff Pickner, along with Goldsman, have already co-written the script for Gunslinger, the first novel in the series. Producers hope to embark on a blockbuster movie franchise along with a potential TV series.
The western fantasy novel is centered around a world of magic and follows a man involved in a knightly order of gunslingers, notes The Hollywood Reporter.
"There are few projects out there that compare with the scope, vision, complex characters and fully drawn world that Stephen King has created with The Dark Tower," said Tom Rothman, the chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, as noted by UPI. "I am a giant fan. And, as Stephen himself does, we love the direction that Akiva and Jeff have taken. This is a great opportunity for a director to put his or her stamp on a cool global franchise."
The film adaptation will draw themes from the novel but take its own innovative twist. King will have heavy production participation with Pinker, the executive producer yet the film is in need of a director.
"I'm excited that The Dark Tower is finally going to appear on the screen. Those who have traveled with Roland and his friends in their search for the Dark Tower are going to have their long-held hopes fully realized. This is a brilliant and creative approach to my books," said King.
