Just to make my fellow ‘The Dark Tower‘ fans weep I have both some concept art as well as CGI footage of the movie series that seems to lack the ability from ever getting off the ground. Ron Howard’s take on Stephen King’s ‘The Dark Tower’ is an ambitious project that, while never officially cancelled according to Howard, most likely the film won’t see the light of day. While that isn’t set in stone, they have been unsuccessful at financing the film. That doesn’t mean that there was no progress was ever made on pre-production, as you can see below!
The project was last heard to be without a studio (Universal originally had the rights then passed it over only to have Warner Bros. pick it up and who have since let it go), when ‘The Dark Tower’ was still at Universal, Howard had hired conceptual illustrator Gregory Hill to design a variety of concept pieces for the film. While they are mostly set designs (such as from places like Devar Toi, the Dogan, Tull, the Manni Village, the Thinny, Tull and the Speaking Ring), you also get a few atmospheric shots that help portray the lonely ruin that the world has fallen into.
The initial idea was a trilogy of films and a limited run series on HBO that would have helped tie the movies together. While a massive undertaking this is King’s version of ‘Lord of the Rings’ for all intents and purposes.
Aside from the shots above we also have the following six conceptional images to share with you.
Next up we have two fly-throughs of the city of Tull which are just absolutely spectacular to behold.
Absolutely stunning on what we could have had and this is only the concept art! Do you feel that the images captured the feel from the novels? Do you hope that Howard still finds a way to pull off this set as at the very least a trilogy? Share your thoughts below!
The Dark Tower series tells the story of Roland Deschain, Mid-World’s last gunslinger, who is traveling southeast across Mid-World’s post-apocalyptic landscape, searching for the powerful but elusive magical edifice known as The Dark Tower. Located in the fey region of End-World, amid a sea of singing red roses, the Dark Tower is the nexus point of the time-space continuum. It is the heart of all worlds, but it is also under threat. Someone, or something, is using the evil technology of the Great Old Ones to destroy it.
In Roland’s where and when, the world has already begun to move on. Time and direction are in drift, and the fabric of reality is fraying. However, things are about to get much worse. The six invisible magnetic Beams, which maintain the alignment of time, space, size, and dimension, are weakening. Because of this, the Tower itself is foundering. Unless Roland can find a way to save the Beams and stabilize the Tower, all of reality will blink out of existence.
Inspired in equal parts by Robert Browning’s poem, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came,” J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, and Sergio Leone’s spaghetti Western classics, The Dark Tower series is an epic of Arthurian proportions. It is Stephen King’s magnum opus, and is the center of his amazing creative universe.
Source: Gregory Hill
