Warner Bros. Passes on 'Dark Tower'

An adaptation of Stephen King’s opus The Dark Tower won't be hitting screens, big or small, anytime soon.

Warner Bros. has passed on the project, making it the second studio to do so.

The high-profile and ambitious package had Ron Howard attached to direct and Brian Grazer producing a script from Akiva Goldsman. It was to consist of three movies and two TV miniseries.

The studio looked at the package as part of its weekend read and decided to pass.

The project previously was set up at Universal and came close to production, but budgetary and scale issues made the studio second-guess its involvement, leading Tower to be put into turnaround. Writer-producer Goldman has a first-look deal at Warners, so setting up Dark Tower at that studio seemed like a logical move that could save the project.

King's Western-style fantasy series is set mostly in an alternate world heavy on magic and centers on a man who is part of a knightly order of gunslingers. But Goldman’s script is said to begin on Earth, with material seen in the latter parts of the second book.

Warner Bros declined comment.