The Stephen King Dark Tower franchise machine is starting to build up some exciting momentum with the recent news that Javier Bardem is very close to signing on for the project as the iconic lead character of the series, Roland Deschain. This mixed but widely approved casting news has now been followed up with the very positive sounding announcement from Deadline.com that Mark Verheiden has joined the solid looking talent forming behind the camera and will Co-Write and Executive Produce alongside Akiva Goldsman.
Mark Verheiden is a very talented and experienced writer with a proven track record for strong TV series contributions, it’s what the Dark Tower films and TV series need to give a voice to the stunning and complex source material that will hopefully stay true or as close to the seven Dark Tower books that the fans will expect. Verheiden has previously written and Executive Produced the likes of Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, Smallville, Timecop, The Mask and the upcoming Dreamworks show Falling Skies. Its quite a decent CV and one that has given me optimism for the Dark Tower’s future.
As previously reported, Ron Howard is directing the first film as well as the first TV series which is bridging the gap between the first and second films. Depending on the critical reception it receives, the box office takings and that the TV series avoids the dreaded Death Slot in the States, the franchise will become hot property and will then allow Howard, Goldsman, Verheiden and Universal to attract some further talented directors and actors to continue the journey to the Dark Tower and allow it to reach its stunning finale. Time will tell.
What fans need now is the casting news/rumours to really start flowing and give us Dark Tower followers something to debate over until the films release. In my opinion the selection of staff and casting for the Dark Tower will be as big and as important to the success of the adaption of the seven Books of the Dark Tower as when Peter Jackson and friends had to dauntingly select the right crew, actors and actresses for The Lord of the Rings films. It’s so important to get this right and signing Verheiden and Bardem is a great step towards success.
I’ll start my casting wish list by asking that if Aaron Paul or Michael Pitt are available, then get either of them signed as Eddie Dean now.
Would love to hear your thoughts on anything Dark Tower s comment below.
Roll on May 27th 2013 which is the intended start date for the first film.
