Javier Bardem is close to signing a deal to play the role of Roland Deschain in the film adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower. King’s massive Dark Tower series spans seven novels and will be split up between three movies and a TV mini-series in between each film. Ron Howard is set to direct both the first film and the first part of the television series.
The Dark Tower saga is a stark departure from King’s normal work, bringing to mind a western by way of J.R.R. Tolkien. Deschain, the central figure throughout each book, is the last member of a long lineage of gunslingers tasked with saving the world by finding the Dark Tower.
Bardem recently wrapped filming a still-untitled film directed by Terrence Malick and he's also being pursued by MGM to play the villain in the next James Bond installment, to be directed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road To Perdition).
[Via Deadline]
