The Gunslinger, Coming to a Theatre near you.

For those who haven't heard, Stephen King's Dark Tower series is finally being adapted for the big and small screen.  What is known so far is that is that this project will be broken up into three feature length films and two TV series is as follows;

First Movie

Roland Deschain

First TV show bridging to...
Second Movie
Second TV show
Final Movie.

All of this is being directed by Ron Howard, who so far has been hit or miss with some of his projects, although feels pretty right for a project of this magnitude.  And now, recently, it appears that the role of Roland, the last of the gunslingers is to be given to none other than Javier Bardem, of No Country For Old Men fame, which should be interesting to say the least.  On one hand, he is a solid actor and will bring a certain physical presence need for the fabled gunslinger.  On the other, I wouldn't be able to picture him without that funky haircut and air compressor/cattle killing/gun in one hand (thank you Coen Brothers).

Javier Bardem

So, what does the Godfather, creator of the Dark Tower universe, Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla, and possibly finest living author, Steven King, think of what many consider his opus being adapted.  To tell the truth, he seems pretty satisfied so far.  He approves of Ron Howard as the man to assemble this film and so far likes the idea of alternating movie and television series.  He also has voiced that he would certainly like to play a part, as the voice of Blaine the Mad Mono, so fingers crossed.

As a fan, as with all adaptations of material that I love and cherish, I wish all the cast and crew the best.  To Mr. King and on behalf of all fans, I offer my thoughts and prayers in hope that Hollywood will get this right.  For god help you if you get it wrong.  Imagine if Lord of the Rings went horribly wrong.  And imagine the outrage and carnage wrought by Tolkien fans.  Now replace those people who regularly read Stephen King novels.  Utter Hell on Earth.  For what it is worth, however, I think this has the potential to be big, regardless of some of the almost genocidally bad King adaptations (cough cough Dreamcatcher cough).  I really dig the format, although some fans might disagree and still have their hearts set on 7 huge blockbusters.  I say the TV show allows for more freedom to tell the stories instead of having to condense each novel down into 1-2 hour films.  I also approve of Ron Howard.  He has had a history of making some truly remarkable films (Backdraft, Frost/Nixon, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind) and has even made a decent adaptation of The Davinci Code (and I stress the word decent).  I can only hope that he is up to the challenge.  I for one will be counting down to May 17, 2013 when the first film is planned to hit theaters.