Via The Chicago Tribune (The Wertzone):

“The Dark Tower” sleeps with fishes.

Universal’s ambitious adaptation of Stephen King’s fantasy series has been canceled, TheWrap has confirmed.

The first film was slated to begin production this summer, but shooting was delayed last spring with the studio announcing that it needed to make the project more cost-effective.

That temporary delay became permanent this week, and now deprives Universal of a film series that it had hoped to make a linchpin for its film slate for years to come.

The studio declined to comment.

[…]

But in cutting “The Dark Tower” from its schedule, Universal does run the risk of alienating one of its most loyal and profitable partners, Imagine Entertainment. Howard and Grazer’s production company has earned millions of dollars in profits for the studio with hits such as “American Gangster” and “A Beautiful Mind.”

On Monday, Universal apparently decided that the risk was so great that “The Dark Tower” wouldn’t join that list.

I’m shocked. Truly I am– Oh, wait. No I’m not.

Via Entertainment Weekly:

Melisandre will be played by Carice van Houten, a Dutch stage and film actress. She’s appeared in the movies Valkyrie and Repo Men. I think you’ll agree she looks just about perfect for Melisandre.

And Stannis will be played by…

British actor Stephen Dillane, best known to U.S. audiences by playing Thomas Jefferson in HBO’s John Adams.

I’m not familiar with either actor, but they both look the part. Dillane seems to have a lot of experience with period dramas, which is good. Carice van Houten is certainly striking, though google image search seems to indicate she’s more of a quirky, girl-next-door kind of pretty than the strikingly-gorgeous-and-powerful kind of pretty I pictured for Melisandre. Her acting resume seems solid, too.

Via The Wertzone (via, obviously, TheOneRing.net):

Not much more to add since my previous observations, other than that I always pictured Thorin to be older. Oh, and Dwalin was always the lamest dwarf of the thieving crew. And Orcrist is cool. And I’m bloody excited for this movie.

Via DIY:

Yeah… not quite how I pictured them in my head. Still, I suppose it would have made for a somewhat visually bland (and confusing) cast of characters if each of the dwarfs had been hoary, white-bearded curmudgeons like these guys:

Even if they’ll take some getting used to, it assures me that Jackson has the intent to capture some of The Hobbit‘s wonderful humour and light-heartedness; though those irked by Gimli in The Lord of the Rings adaptation likely won’t appreciate this interpretation of Tolkien’s dwarfs. Now, if only they’d release photos of the dwarfs I actually care about!

EDIT: Bombur and Gloin! via Blastr