Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men, Biutiful) is "close to sealing his deal" with Universal Pictures to play Roland Deschain, the gunslinger in Stephen King's Dark Tower series, Deadline.com reported. The "mammoth adaptation" of King's seven-novel series will span three movies and a limited run TV series between each film. Director Ron Howard is scheduled to begin production on the first film in September.
Deadline.com called Bardem "a strong match to play the last living member of a knightly order of gunslingers" and noted that the deal is so close to being signed that "Howard has begun meeting with other actors to cast the roles around Bardem. It's a complex deal, almost unprecedented, because it calls for Bardem to star in the feature film and the TV component."