I’ve honestly run out of Dark Tower pictures from writing articles about how many times this damned is happening and then isn’t happening and then is happening again – 4/8/11, 5/6/11, 7/20/11 – but hey, there’s more casting news to report…. recasting that is. It would appear that ‘Maximus’ himself – Russell Crowe will be taking the place of Javier Bardem as the badass gunslinger and main character ‘Roland Deschain’. Of course this is all just speculation at this point.
According to IGN, Akiva Goldsmith is ready to hand over his script to Warner Bros for approval, and a decision should be coming in the next couple weeks. I’m hoping they either definitively move on with this project, or scrap the damned thing for good because it’s been talked about for so long. Will Goldsmith’s script make the cut with Warner Bros? Goldsmith is of course the scribe behind screenplays for movies such as I am Legend, I Robot and The Da Vinci Code. He has also written for one of Dr. Kronner’s favorite movies, Batman and Robin. Take those accomplishments as you will. Even though Goldsmith has an ugly turd like Batman and Robin under his belt, he has also written numerous episodes of the much loved Sci-Fi TV show Fringe. Is that enough to wash away the bad?
Whether you enjoy Goldsmith as a writer or not, I’m sort of relieved that Bardem is now out of the picture. Not that I didn’t love his creepy hitman role in No Country for Old Men, but the guy from Eat Pray Love just didn’t have my confidence for a project of this magnitude. At least with Crowe we know he can play a bad ass and can do it well for three movies and possible a TV series. Crowe is on schedule for a bit of a comeback after serving up such mediocrity as American Gangster and Robin Hood in recent years. He’ll be all set to knock our socks off as the Gunslinger once his turn as Jor’El in Man of Steel hopefully restores him to prominence.
Is anyone else wanting this project to move forward? Personally I think it’s a huge gamble like New Line did with Lord of the Rings, and look at how that paid off for them. Warner Bros needs to grow a pair and take a chance because I’m sure even if it fails, their coffers won’t hardly take a dent. You know they’re still swimming in money like old Scrooge McDuck from the Harry Potter and Dark Knight income. Sound off below and let us know where you stand!
Images: Universal, Marvel Comics
Grizzly Bomb 
I want this project to go forward so bad, and have ever since hearing that it was going to be a combination of films and TV series and spearheaded by Ron Howard. Now I’m hoping that if it does go forward, whoever is overseeing it is able to do it justice.
Javier Bardem fits Roland perfectly; Russell Crowe not so much. Maybe Josh Brolin? I’ve always “seen” Roland as tall & lanky.
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