Deadline is reporting exclusively that budget issues have delayed Ron Howard’s sprawling “The Dark Tower” project, an adaptation of the Stephen King epic that would be spread across two big-screen Universal movies and two NBC miniseries, all of it starring Javier Bardem.
Shooting on the first feature was supposed to begin this summer; now the start has been delayed at least until February.
Management of both NBC and Universal was recently transferred to cable opearator Comcast.
The rub is the filmmakers and Universal must agree on a budget before July or the rights revert back to King and Imagine. It’s not certain another studio partner (with its own TV channel) would be as willing to commit to such an ambitious adaptation.
Find all of Deadline’s exclusive on the matter here.
