Russell Crowe was interested in playing the gunslinger.
The future is not bright for the highly ambitious movie and TV adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower as Warner Bros. is now the second studio to pass on the epic.
Variety reports that Warners has opted not to move forward with The Dark Tower, making it the second studio after Universal to pass on the film/TV saga. Oscar winner Ron Howard was set to direct and produce via his Imagine Entertainment banner with Akiva Goldsman scripting. Russell Crowe had been circling the role of gunslinger Roland Deschain after Javier Bardem bowed out.
As the trade points out, "Imagine is still able to take the project back out to other studios, but this latest news is a blow to the film’s future — when Universal first let go of the film, most insiders around town believed WB was its best chance of getting made."