The Dark Tower's Shadow Falls on Bardem

Well this announcement seems more like a formality than anything else but here it is: after months of speculation and rumors, Academy Award winner Javier Bardem has OFFICIALLY signed on to play the titular lead role of Roland Deschain in Ron Howard and Brian Grazer's adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower.

The Dark Tower will be a groundbreaking new foray for moviegoers as the seven volume series will consist of three movies and three miniseries linked together. What's interesting (and a little disturbing) is that Bardem has only signed on for the first film and the first miniseries. A source with the New York Post says that the intention is for Bardem to be in all three movies and miniseries and that he was always the studio's first choice.

While I sincerely wish Grazer and Howard would have gone after Viggo Mortensen instead, I respect the choice. Bardem not only has the talent but also the look to play Roland of Gilead. My concern now however is that he is only signed to the first movie and miniseries. Who's to say he won't bail after that part of his contract is up and leave the studio twisting in the wind? I understand it's a big undertaking, but with a project like this you've got to be fully committed. I don't want this feature to become Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus with the main character being played by multiple people.

The other thing that is fascinating to me is that the studio said Bardem was always their first choice. Really? That's surprising considering that names like Josh Brolin and Viggo Mortensen were being thrown around, two people I thought would have been better fits.

Filming on the first movie in the series is set to start this September with a tentative release date of May 2013.

**One extra tidbit of information is that aside from the novels and the graphic novels about The Dark Tower that have already been released, Stephen King is releasing an 8th Dark Tower book next year called The Wind Through the Keyhole that takes place between the events of Book Four and Book Five. I wonder if they will incorporate the latest source material into the movies?