| Given this latest development, Ron Howard must be feeling as if he’s trying to build The Dark Tower using a Jenga set. For every piece of construction he manages, there’s always a collapse a little while later. He’s currently staring at metaphorical blocks lying on an equally metaphorical table after Warner Bros. decided to pass on his ambitious attempt to turn Stephen King’s epic into a series of films and TV episodes. Howard, along with producer Brian Grazer and writer / producer Akiva Goldsman, has been trying to get the Tower built for a while now. Initially they used their Imagine production company to offer it to regular collaborators Universal. When that studio passed citing budget concerns, Warners stepped into the fray and, recently, things seemed to be looking up, with Howard and co talking to Russell Crowe about playing apocalyptic gunslinger Roland Deschain. But Warners has passed, which represents the latest pothole in the road to the Tower. Imagine can still, of course, take the project elsewhere, and the trio of big filmmaking names attached still carries some clout, but it’s looking increasingly unlikely, especially given that Warners represented one of the better outlets, with the company’s multi-media interests. So while The Dark Tower may yet be scaled, we wouldn’t go holding our breath. | 
