They canned At the Mountains of Madness, will Universal swing the axe at The Dark Tower next?

Am I surprised to read that Ron Howard’s hugely ambitious “Dark Tower” film/TV series may be in trouble? No.. are you? Come on! Coupled with the disappointing performance and write-ups of his last film “The Dilemma”, not to mention just how big a commitment this “Dark Tower” series is going to be (it not only spans multiple films but a TV series that will air between the first and second films!) for Universal, it’d be wrong for the studio not to question Howard’s plans – particuarly when it’s going to set them back many, many m’s.

The plan for the first film in the series, based on the books by Stephen King and featuring Javier Bardem as the Gunslinger, was that it’d shoot in September. According to Deadline, that’s no longer the case – and, in fact, they’re hearing budget woes may have forced the film into turnaround (though, of course, the studio will deny, deny, deny – and are – until the official press release is done). Pre-production staff have been put on hiatus while Howard, producer Brian Grazer and the brass at Universal try and sort this out – but if del Toro’s “At the Mountains of Madness”, which was canned by the studio when it’s budget skyrocketed to $150m, is anything to go by expect to see another company logo before the supertitle on the film. The trade predicts “Dark Tower” will end up at Warner Bros.