Director Ron Howard’s adaptation of the Stephen King book series The Dark Tower has had an incredibly rough development process.  Given the sprawling nature of the book series, Howard, producer Brian Grazer, and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman planned an ambitious adaptation that would play out over three feature films and two limited seasons of a TV series.  Howard first set the project up at Universal with Javier Bardem in talks to take on the lead role of Roland Deschain, but as development progressed and the budget swelled, Universal got cold feet and pushed the production start date back just a few months before filming was poised to begin.

Though Howard, Grazer, and Goldsman worked to try and make the budget for The Dark Tower manageable, Universal ultimately decided to drop the project altogether.  Warner Bros. flirted with the idea of producing the project before passing as well, and last we heard Media Rights Capital was in “serious talks” to finance the project.  While we haven’t heard much about The Dark Tower in the meantime, Netflix Chief Creative Offficer Ted Sarandos recently revealed that he has had discussions with Howard about The Dark Tower on Netflix.  Hit the jump for more.

From time to time I like to use the opening paragraph to discuss my latest screenprint investments and/or dream items. This week I’m playing a similar note as I recently picked up Olly Moss‘ “Batman’s Rogues Gallery” set on eBay for very close to what the timed edition went for originally. Those of you who follow posters and prints know how redeeming it can be to finally get an item you originally missed out on without having to pay exponentially more than its original asking price. Now, if only Ken Taylor‘s Halloween print would stop being so rare/expensive, I could officially run out of room on my walls.

I’ll stop gushing and leave any more in-depth poster/print talk to our own Limited Paper. For my part, this week’s Top 5 includes the first trailer and a video blog recap of 10 minutes of footage from Neill Blomkamp‘s Elysium, our White House Down set visit recap, an exclusive interview with Legendary Pictures CEO Thomas Tull, the first trailers for Ron Howard‘s Rush, and an extended interview with Mondo CEO Justin Ishmael. As is customary, a brief recap and link to each is ready and waiting for your attention after the jump.

Universal Pictures has released a new trailer for director Ron Howard’s racing drama Rush.  The film takes place in the world of Formula 1 racing and chronicles the 1970s rivalry between Austrian driver Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl) and British driver James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth).  This trailer plays much better than the previous U.K. trailer, as we get a better sense of the individual character struggles in addition to Howard’s impressive visuals.  The racing sequences certainly look to be intense, but the highlight of this trailer for me is hearing some of Hans Zimmer‘s fantastic-sounding score.  As Matt noted previously, the key to the film’s success will be whether we care about the characters, so here’s hoping Rush is more Apollo 13 than The Da Vinci Code.

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer.  The film also stars Olivia Wilde and opens on September 20th.

A batch of new images from Universal Pictures’ upcoming racing drama Rush has been released online.  Directed by Ron Howard, the film takes place in the world of Formula 1 racing and chronicles the 1970s rivalry between Austrian driver Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl) and British driver James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth).  We got our first glimpse at footage by way of a U.K. trailer last week, but Universal is poised to drop the domestic trailer tomorrow and they’ve unveiled these images as an appetizer.  Hemsworth looks sufficiently handsome as notorious playboy Hunt, while Brühl appears to bring a fair amount of intensity to the Lauda role.

Hit the jump to take a look at the images and check back here tomorrow afternoon to watch the new trailer.  The film also stars Olivia Wilde and opens on September 20th.

The first trailer for Ron Howard’s Rush is now online.  The film takes place in the world of Formula 1 racing and chronicles the 1970s rivalry between Austrian driver Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl) and British driver James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth).  It’s tough for me to get excited about Howard’s films since he hasn’t made a great one since Apollo 13.  He does have the talent to tell a good story, but after watching the trailer for Rush, the question remains: will we care about the rivalry between Lauda and Hunt, or will we just talk about the excellence of the racing scenes?

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film also stars Olivia Wilde.  Rush opens September 20th. [Update: We've added a track from Hans Zimmer's score for the film.  You can list to it after the jump.]

Ron Howard is all over this week, becoming attached to direct two fantasy adaptations: Neil Gaiman‘s The Graveyard Book and Israeli import All I’ve Got.  Before Howard launches into those worlds, though, he may first tackle a project more grounded in reality.  Vulture hears Howard is circling the adaptation of Nathaniel Philbri‘s In the Heart of the Sea, which could take precedence as his next project and shoot this fall with Warner Bros. financing.  Chris Hemsworth, per usual, is a major selling point.  Howard is now in post-production on Rush, a Formula One biopic led by Hemsworth, and Hemsworth is set to star in In the Heart of the Sea.  The 19th century drama follows the surviving crew who drifted for 90 days in the South Pacific after their whaleship was rammed and sunk by a sperm whale.  (That sperm whale went on to inspire Moby Dick.)

Howard has not yet committed, but you can see why the story and the star would attract him.  A period piece shot on the sea would likely be a massive undertaking, and if WB plays their cards right, a viable prestige picture come awards season.  Read the book synopsis after the jump.

Disney’s adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book finds new life in director Ron Howard.  Last April, Disney picked up the feature rights to The Graveyard Book with plans to reunite director Henry Selick (Coraline) with another Gaiman work.  Then, just this past August, Disney put a halt to the production, which was then slotted for stop-motion animation, citing creative issues.  The latest twist is not only that Howard is reportedly in negotiations to helm the picture, but that it will be a live-action adaptation (which is interesting considering most of the characters are dead…).  Hit the jump for more.

While director Ron Howard is currently knee-deep in post-production on his upcoming Formula 1 racing drama Rush, it appears that he may have found his next project.  Howard is now attached to direct an adaptation of the 2003 Israeli TV movie Kol Ma She’Yesh Li (translated to All I’ve Got).  The project has been in development at J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot for a couple of years, but it looks like Howard’s involvement will start moving this thing closer to production.  Hit the jump for more details on the film, which is described as a mix between The Notebook and Albert Brooks’ fantastic 1991 pic Defending Your Life.

Written in part by George Lucas and directed by Ron Howard, the swords-and-sorcery fantasy epic, Willow, will be available on Blu-ray for the first time on March 12, 2013. The 25th anniversary release of the film starring Warwick Davis, Val Kilmer and Joanne Whalley will feature a fully-restored edition along with never-before-seen deleted scenes, Davis’ personal video diary and a “making of” featurette with an introduction by Howard. Hit the jump for the new Blu-ray trailer for Willow and the full press release.

While walking the floor of the American Film Market (AFM) this morning, Steve was able to grab some images and synopses for a few upcoming films.  Briefly:

• Rush – Director Ron Howard’s 1970s drama focuses on the rivalry between Formula 1 racers James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl).  The film opens September 20th, 2013.
• Can a Song Save Your Life? – This uplifting music-centered drama comes from Once director John Carney and centers on the relationship between a struggling musician (Keira Knightley) and a music producer (Mark Ruffalo) in New York City.  The cast also includes Hailee Steinfeld, Adam Levine, and Catherine Keener.
• Thérèse – This adaptation of the classic novel stars Elizabeth Olsen as a young woman trapped in an arranged marriage who conspires with her lover (Oscar Isaac) to dispose of her sickly cousin husband (Tom Felton).  Jessica Lange also stars.

Hit the jump to check out images and detailed synopses for all three films.

Back in August, we brought you the trailer for Studio Ghibli’s From Up on Poppy Hill, written by Hayao Miyazaki and directed by his son Goro Miyazaki.  Now, we have word that the English version has a planned theatrical release of March 15th, 2013.  Lending their voices to that version will be such top talent as Gillian Anderson, Ron Howard, Christina Hendricks, Jamie Lee Curtis and Beau Bridges, among others.  Hit the jump to see who else is joining the party, along with the synopsis for From Up on Poppy Hill.

When you drive around in stairs, you’re gonna get some walk-ons.  Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz is now giving fans the chance to literally win a walk-on role on the revived series with a new contest.  Netflix, which thankfully rescued the series and will be the home to its fourth season, is offering six walk-on opportunities to creative fans who submit their original Arrested Development-related artwork by October 16th! I think I just blue myself… Hit the jump for details on how you can enter the contest, along with a message from Hurwitz and star, Michael Cera.

All news regarding Arrested Development‘s fourth season is good news, but some is just great.  Though the initial plan was for the new season to run for ten episodes (each of which would focus on a major character), series star David Cross has recently revealed that it’s looking more like thirteen.

The series has never lost momentum or its cult following – in fact, if anything, it’s become even more popular post-cancellation than during its initial run on Fox.  It’s hard to believe that nearly a decade has past since the series first aired, but that doesn’t seem to have any bearing on the quality of the production nor on the excitement of the cast involved.  For more on what David Cross has said about the upcoming season and being a never-nude, plus some photos that the series’ narrator and executive producer Ron Howard recently shared on Twitter, hit the jump.

It was a little more than two weeks ago that we brought you the sobering news that Imagine’s adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series had a go/no-go deadline looming.  That deadline has now come and gone and it looks as if Warner Bros. has passed.  This comes as yet another setback to the project, which has seen its share of woes: being let go by Universal, several budgetary concerns and difficulty landing a lead.  The latest iteration of the script from Akiva Goldsman had Russell Crowe showing an interest if the project were to be greenlit.  Sadly, that did not happen at Warner Bros.  But there may yet be hope for Roland Deschain and director/producer Ron Howard.  Hit the jump for more.

[Update: Deadline reports that Media Rights Capital is in "serious talks" to finance the project, in part because MRC executive Modi Wiczyk is apparently a big fan of the books.  The original story follows after the jump.]

Now that we know the Netflix-backed Arrested Development project is not just a trick (illusion, illusion!) but actually confirmed, there are finally a few answers to the question of what we can expect from it.  According to Ron Howard, who acts as the show’s narrator, the new season will include some new characters.

There’s been plenty of hype building up thanks to the show’s stars keeping fans on the hook with photos from the set, including Tobias (David Cross) in a sheet and George Michael (Michael Cera) on a segway.  And despite what Howard called a “hell of a hiatus,” he has also reassured fans that the show’s quality is still top-notch (as if those photos suggested anything otherwise). For more on what Howard said of the upcoming season, hit the jump.