'Dark Tower' Series Probably at HBO, Movie Part They'll Figure Out Later
While doing press duties to convince the world that Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, and tower robbery is a winning combination, a freshly gelled and blow-dried Brian Grazer this weekend claimed he and Ron Howard's epic Dark Tower is still a go, and on the television side, it will be paid for and aired by HBO.
The Stephen King adaptation had originally been planned as an NBC-Universal project, with a string of Universal films being supported by a limited-run NBC series. It would have been heavily reference in your textbook's chapter on synergy. Unfortunately, the suits at General Electric got pretty skittish about making a huge fantasy western once they heard how much all these shadowy spires would cost them, and they abandoned the project.
But according to Grazer, he and Howard have now managed to chop the budget down by a cool $45 million, allowing the deal with HBO and, they figure, making a movie deal with some a film studio all but inevitable. He also seems to think Javier Bardem won't mind these delays, and will still be up for the lead role of Roland Deschain just as soon as some lucky studio will fund a vast, elaborate, still-very-expensive fantasy western. What is the hold up, guys?
