Sony Set to Launch Movie and TV Series Based on Stephen King's "Dark Tower" Novels

Sony Pictures and Media Rights Capital (MRC) have agreed to co-finance the adaptation of Stephen King's "Dark Tower," an eight-book saga revolving around a gunslinger named Roland Deschain, for both the big-screen and TV according to Deadline. As gathered by the entertainment news site, Sony will distribute what is planned to be the first in a series of movies while MRC will develop a complementary TV series.

King's "The Dark Tower" follows gunslinger Roland Deschain's adventures through an alternate realm. The series' first book The Gunslinger, penned by King in 1982, will be the basis of the first feature film. Sony Pictures plans to resurrect screenwriters Akiva Goldsman and Jeff Pinkner's 2010 The Dark Tower script for the first movie installment which will Roland's trek through a vast desert and beyond in search of the man in black. Along the way, he meets several people, including 11-year-old Jake Chambers who for a time travels with him.

King in a statement to Deadline said: "I'm excited that 'The Dark Tower' is finally going to appear on the screen. 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."

Said Sony Chairman Tom Rothman: "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."

Scriptwriter Goldsman himself is on board and is producing the first film through his Weed Road with Imagine Entertainment's Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Erica Huggins. Sony and MRC will reportedly put the project on the fast track.