Universal passes on ambitious adaptation of The Dark Tower...

From Variety:

Universal has officially placed the ambitious multiplatform franchise The Dark Tower in turnaround. Variety first reported that the studio had second thoughts about the film and TV project from Akiva Goldsman and helmer Ron Howard on May 5, when the studio began mulling a turnaround.

Tower involved a television show that would have continued the narrative in between three movies, all based on Steven King's seven-novel series (King has completed an eighth, The Wind Through the Keyhole, set for publication in 2012).

Howard unveiled plans for The Dark Tower adaptation last September. Universal soon came on as a distributor, thanks to Imagine's production deal with the studio; NBC (or an affiliated cable net) was expected carry the TV component.

By April, scribe Mark Verheiden was brought on board to write the TV show along with Goldsman.

No financier has officially signed on to the project, but Warner Bros. could be a likely option since the studio is home to Goldsman's Weed Road Pictures shingle.

Imagine Entertainment's Brian Grazer and Goldsman were set to produce while Javier Bardem was attached to star.

Howard is expected to still helm the project if the studio shops it elsewhere and it finds a new home.

Ron Howard to direct a Formula 1 flick?

Perhaps, according to Variety:

Ron Howard is looking to come full circle in the auto-racing genre, as the director is in early discussions to direct "Rush," the Formula 1 biopic written by "Frost/Nixon" scribe Peter Morgan.

Pic centers on Niki Lauda, the Austrian three-time F1 champion who nearly died in a fiery crash in 1976, only to emerge six weeks later, still nursing severe burns on his face and head, to pursue his rivalry with fellow driver James Hunt. Cross Creek Pictures, which scored a major coup by backing the surprise hit "Black Swan," has agreed to finance.

Paul Greengrass had been rumored to be circling, but he's since boarded Sony's "A Captain's Duty," the story of the Somali pirates saga starring Tom Hanks as Capt. Richard Phillips.

While "Rush" is in early stages, Imagine's Brian Grazer and Howard would likely produce alongside Cross Creek's Brian Oliver and Working Title's Eric Fellner.

Sources say Howard, who is currently attached to direct an adaptation of Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series, has eyed other helming gigs in the wake of rumblings that Universal stalled the hugely ambitious movies-and-TV project due to budgetary and creative concerns.