A Gunslinger Stillborn: Dark Tower Multimedia Extravaganza Shut Down

It seems Randall Flagg is once again at work in the world.

After numerous delays and a sizable budget cut, Deadline reports that the proposed three-movie and two-television series adaptation of Stephen King’s monstrous seven-book series of novels is dead on arrival. Universal has not offered any reason for the cancellation, but we would wager it might have something to do with said delays and budget problems.

This isn’t necessarily bad news. While we can see Javier Bardem as the somber gunslinger Roland Deschain, we aren’t convinced that Ron Howard and Akiva Goldsman, renowned purveyors of glossy – and hollow – sentimental pap, were a good fit for the franchise. Nevertheless, just because Universal passed on The Dark Tower doesn’t mean another studio can’t snap it up.

In the meantime, though, this means I will have to bite the bullet and actually read the books…