Russell Crowe Eyed To Take Over Role As Roland Deschain In 'The Dark Tower' As Warner Bros. Nears Decision

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by Kevin Jagernauth
August 2, 2012 10:39 PM
14 Comments

You gotta admire Ron Howard and producing partner Brian Grazer for keeping the fight alive for their hugely ambitious adaptation of Stephen King's "The Dark Tower." Even though Universal balked on the project last summer, the pair kept developing and shopping the project, with Grazer revealing they had reduced the budget and that HBO was lining up to take on the TV portion of the sprawling franchise. Then, this spring, it was revealed that Warner Bros. were kicking the tires on the whole thing, which made sense given that the parent company owns HBO as well. And it appears as if everything is continuing to move forward. But with a pretty big change.

While Javier Bardem was long attached to the lead role of Roland Deschain, Deadline now reports that Howard's pal Russell Crowe ("A Beautiful Mind," "Cinderella Man") is now being eyed to take over, as Warner Bros. are nearing a decision on whether or not to move ahead on the project. The concept is to tell King's sprawling tale across three films, with a television series between each movie in order to pack in the full story. Akiva Goldsman is apparently turning in a new script shortly (which we imagine will reflect a leaner budget), with the studio to say yay or nay once they give it a read.

And whether or not its Crowe or Bardem or whoever that leads the series—if and when it gets greenlit—the selling point of "The Dark Tower" will be its massive scale and scope. That alone will be enough to intrigue audiences—at least from the start—but it will need to deliver the goods out of the gate, and keep everyone hooked for what is a long story, in order to make the investment worthwhile. We have to say, we'd really want to see WB take a shot. Lord knows we have enough fairy tale reimaginings, superhero movies, and toy films to fill out the blockbuster season, that something a bit meatier and riskier would be very welcome.

But Crowe as Deschain... sure, we dig it, but do you? Do want to see Ron Howard make this? Let us know.

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More: Russell Crowe, The Dark Tower, Javier Bardem

14 Comments

| Reply
Britton | September 1, 2012 5:35 PMReply

Please, anyone but Russell crowe. It's just that I think that old long and tall and ugly wouldn't be 5' 11" 200 lbs.
The Doors | August 17, 2012 8:33 PMReply

SAY NO TO CROW!!!!!!!! Roland is SO much more rugged and tough-looking than Crow will ever be (no offense...I do like the movies he's in, but this just isn't a good role for him). Javier Bardem needs to keep the part.
lines | August 15, 2012 6:37 PMReply

i always saw Roland as someone like Clint Eastwood in his early days. Tall and lean with a rugged but attractive face. Viggo could certainly do it too, as he is getting older and has the right kind of look. Russel Crowe also has my vote (being a fellow Aussie), but he really needs to trim down. Very exciting to see this finally coming to the big or small screen.
v | August 14, 2012 11:30 AMReply

I don't really care at this point, I want the movies! :D
Sure, I like him, why not?
wingback | August 7, 2012 4:58 PMReply

Here were my favorites to play Roland:
1. Viggo Mortensen
2. Thomas Haden Church
3. Josh Brolin
4. Daniel Day-Lewis
I'd never thought of Russell Crowe, but if he lost 30 lbs it could work out.
anen | August 3, 2012 10:31 PMReply

gee idk he's kinda stocky looking lately
caro | August 3, 2012 9:31 AMReply

it's really Russel Crowe's comeback at Hollywood
Tom | August 3, 2012 10:43 AM

Absolutely. He looks pretty desperate though doing every big budget movie thrown at him. You would think he would want to spend time with his family. He isn't what he once was acting wise and his rugged looks have been replaced with just aging badly.
alison | August 3, 2012 6:43 AMReply

Russell Crowe doesn't have the box office draw he did 10 years ago. He is almost 50 and good looks have long since left him. Maybe 10 years ago it would have been a good fit but now? No way, go with someone else. And Howard is the wrong person for this project.
Adrian | August 3, 2012 5:19 AMReply

I think that both Crowe and Bardem are too big for the role. When I read the books I was thinking in a skinnier guy, like Daniel Day-Lewis. And I still think that Ron Howard is a bad idea for the helm. Darren Aronofsky?
olli | August 3, 2012 3:19 AMReply

Well, as happy as I am with the fact that there is still life in this ambitious project, IÂ´m still not happy with Ron Howard and Akiva Goldsman involved. They made a lot of successful films, some of them I found very entertaining, some not so. The problem with Howard is, that I canÂ´t imgine him as the right guy to do the loads of hard R stuff from the books. And Goldsman tends to dumb down things.
Everytime I read their names I remember the âDa Vinci Codeâ-Desaster and to a lesser degree itÂ´s follow up, where they turned a not very bright but kind of thrilling pageturner into a leaden, tedious und boring pompous mess.
If Howard is in âRansomâ-mode than this may work and if Goldsman is in âI am legendâ-mode (except for turning the mutated guys into those bad CGI-zombies) than this may also work, but given their track record IÂ´m pretty skeptical.
But Crowe, if he loses some weight, is a good choice.
Sean Young | August 3, 2012 12:03 AMReply

I'll take Crowe over Bardem in this, but he NEEDS to lose some weight for the role. Now Michael Pitt for Eddie, please.
Juan Durfle | August 2, 2012 11:18 PMReply

Meh. I'd rather Bardem over Crowe.
Sam | August 2, 2012 11:04 PMReply

i'd rather see Bardem in this.
i hope the reason they'd switch to Crowe wouldn't be box office draw because a) it's Russell Crowe and it's 2012, and b) we're in a post-box office draw era, studios. i hope that wouldn't be their reason.
but Bardem would be a really interesting choice for this.