Updated:Deadline are reporting the astonishing and amazing news that
Javier Bardem has entered final talks to lead
The Dark Tower as the last gunslinger Roland Deschain, for what will be an insane three movie & two t.v. series deal! The deal is tantalisingly close, so much so that director
Ron Howard has "begun meeting with other actors to cast the roles around Bardem". Below is my last update on The Dark Tower, but you don't really need to read anything more. Javier Bardem, perhaps the greatest actor working at the peaks of his talents on the planet, has committed himself to The Dark Tower. Oh, how we
Stephen King fans are being spoilt. In possibly the vaguest and least helpful statement a producer has ever come out with to the press, producer
Brian Grazer told MTV on the red carpet at the Oscars on Sunday that
Javier Bardem is "locked in psychologically for
The Dark Tower and that he really wants to do it, so were absolutely rooting for him to do it. We can only presume Grazer meant 'Bardem wants to do it, likes the character, Grazer desperately wants him to star, but the 3 films & 2 t.v. series commitment is kind of putting him off". Which is understandable given that Bardem is one of the more in-demand actors in world cinema, including a villain role in Bond 23 that he is currently weighing up and giving away the best part of the decade to one role is an unprecedented decision for a non-kid actor (i.e. Daniel Radcliffe in Harry Potter). Perhaps then Bardem is waiting to see how that deal works out and perhaps he wants to see the Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind, Da Vinci Code) screenplay for the first movie - The Gunslinger - before making a decision on starring in the Ron Howard directed project. Grazer continued; Javier Bardem, thats what were hoping. Were in the process of trying to put that together... Were really just focused on Javier right now. We previously wrote our pleasure of Bardem potentially leading The Dark Tower franchise,
HERE.