When last we reported on the beleaguered adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower, it was to tell you that the property had moved from Universal to Warner Bros. and that principal actor Javier Bardem may have been lost in the transition.  Now we have word that Russell Crowe is in talks to star as the gunslinger, Roland Deschain.  There's no deal currently inked out, but the studio will be factoring Crowe's involvement with the picture into their decision on whether or not to greenlight the film at all.  Here's the rub: the yay or nay will come within the next two weeks.  Much more on the latest developments surrounding The Dark Tower after the jump.Deadline reports that screenwriter Akiva Goldsman has recently turned in another draft of The Dark Tower script, which prompted the two week deadline looming over the potential franchise.  The plan is for the epic eight-volume story to be told over three feature films (the first of which, at least, will be directed by Ron Howard) and two limited-run TV series, likely at HBO.  It's safe to say that quite a few bucks (and the hopes of countless fans) ride on this pending decision.  For those of you I've lost along the way, here's a brief summary of The Dark Tower:

In the story, Roland Deschain is the last living member of a knightly order known as gunslingers and the last of the line of “Arthur Eld”, his world’s analogue of King Arthur. The world he lives in is quite different from our own, yet it bears striking similarities to it. Politically organized along the lines of a feudal society, it shares technological and social characteristics with the American Old West but is also magical. While the magical aspects are largely gone from Mid-World, some vestiges of them remain, along with the relics of a highly advanced, but long vanished, society.

Roland’s quest is to find the Dark Tower, a fabled building said to be the nexus of all universes. Roland’s world is said to have “moved on”, and indeed it appears to be coming apart at the seams as mighty nations have been torn apart by war, entire cities and regions vanish without a trace and time does not flow in an orderly fashion. Even the Sun sometimes rises in the north and sets in the east. As the series opens, Roland’s motives, goals and age are unclear, though later installments shed light on these mysteries. [Wikipedia]

While Crowe doesn't exactly fit the literal description of Deschain, his name certainly carries the weight that might help push the project over the edge.  But what do you think about his potential casting?