The Los Angeles Times spoke with director Ron Howard about his upcoming adaptation of Stephen King’s massive fantasy series The Dark Tower of which Howard is set to direct the first film of a planned trilogy and then the first season of a tie-in television series based on the seven novel series with Akiva Goldsman (I Am Legend) writing the screenplay for each.
The project is yet to get the official green light, but the first film is tentatively slated to hit theaters on May 17, 2013 and Howard tells “Los Angeles Times” reporter Geoff Boucher progress on the film is moving quickly and he’s becoming a bit obsessed with the franchise. The idea to turn King’s work into three films with a tie-in television series is excellent if you ask me, as it creates a way to capture the massive scope of the novels without trying to cram it all into three movies or leaving out so much you upset fans as well as dilute the story. However, it creates a whole other impossible mission when trying to decide who to cast.
The above four names were all mentioned in the “Times” article for the lead role of the gunslinger named Roland Deschain, but there are definite factors to consider. First off you have the already lined up film and television schedules for all four names above. Daniel Craig is already signed on to star in the sequel to the upcoming The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, not to mention James Bond 23 which is currently rumored to be looking at a November 2012 release. Hugh Jackman has The Wolverine with Darren Aronofsky as well as several other potential features.
Jon Hamm and Viggo Mortensen are probably the more likely candidates with Hamm currently only committed to “Mad Men” and Mortensen having recently completed work on David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method and Walter Salles’s On the Road. However, do any of those four actors want to commit to a project that will likely tie them up for the next eight or so years and have them working on the same character for three films and who knows how many television episodes?
If Universal is looking to do this right I’d suspect they would want to cast the same person as the lead character for both the film and television aspects of the story, but in order to do this I can’t help but feel as if they would have to cast a lesser known actor or an unknown. I could imagine someone such as Timothy Olyphant or Barry Pepper taking on the role as they have both bounced between film and television projects, but I have a hard time believing any of the four names above would ever commit to such a deal.
Perhaps the most reassuring thing for fans is to read Howard’s excitement in Boucher’s piece. He legitimately sounds excited at the prospect of bringing what sounds like is expected to be three films and two seasons of television to fans and if done right I full expect it to be a hit. The question now is whether or not we’ll get the team that brought us Cinderella Man and A Beautiful Mind or the team behind The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. One is certainly not like the other and ironically both are Howard and Goldsman.
Can you think of any more likely candidates for the lead roles other than those mentioned above?
