After years of negotiations , Stephen King 's hit novel series The Dark Tower is on its way to big and small screens near you . The revered writer , who penned Shawshank Redemption and The Shining , slammed Warner Brothers in 2012 for dropping plans to make a movie trilogy and TV mini-series . Finally , three years later , things are back on track - this time with Sony . Finally : Stephen King has announced Sony will be putting his 'magnum opus ' The Dark Tower in cinemas . These are just two of the eight novels which King spent over 40 years writing . The movie and TV version is said to mainly stem from the first novel , The Gunslinger ( left ) , focusing on the lead character Roland . ' I 'm excited that The Dark Tower is finally going to appear on the screen , ' King said in a statement . 'Those who have traveled with Roland and his friends in their search for the Dark Tower are going to have their long-held hopes fully realized . This is a brilliant and creative approach to my books . ' The eight-book series written between 1970 and 2012 follows a 'gunslinger ' on his journey towards a tower . Describing his self-professed 'magnum opus ' , King said it combines the essences of the Wild West , science fiction , and Lord Of The Rings . Like J. R. R. Tolkien 's celebrated trilogy , The Dark Tower has its own unique language . According to Deadline , the newfangled project has an entirely new script which focuses on the relationship between Roland and Jake in Gunslinger , the first book . A provisional script has been written by Akiva Goldsman ( Cinderella Man ) and Jeff Pinkner ( Lost ) . Rumored leads : Javier Bardem ( left ) and Russell Crowe ( right ) are said to be interested in the lead role . Three years on , Javier Bardem and Russell Crowe are still rumored to be interested in the lead role . Sony chairman Tom Rothman said in a statement : 'There are few projects out there that compare with the scope , vision , complex characters and fully drawn world that Stephen King has created with The Dark Tower . ' I am a giant fan . And , as Stephen himself does , we love the direction that Akiva and Jeff have taken . This is a great opportunity for a director to put his or her stamp on a cool global franchise . ' When Warner Bros dropped the deal - initiated by Universal - King told a press conference : 'The Dark Tower , to me , and I ’ m not unbiased because I ’ m the writer on this thing , but to me it looks like gold on the ground waiting to be picked up . '
Warner Bros slammed by novelist for dropping the deal in 2012 . Warner Brothers has announced deal to release movies and TV series . The Dark Tower is an 8-part novel series written between 1970 and 2012 . Javier Bardem and Russell Crowe rumored to be interested in the lead .