Earlier this month, fans of The Dark Tower were given a ray of hope when Warner Bros. expressed interest in the sprawling project. The studio received a new draft of the screenplay by Akiva Goldsman, with Russell Crowe in contention to play Roland Deschain. Today, we have word that Warner Bros. decided to pass on the project.

This adaptation of Stephen King's seven-book series was originally set up at Universal Pictures. The plan was to produce a trilogy of movies, with two limited-run TV series to air on NBC between each movie. Universal dropped the project last July. We reported last October that HBO is considering taking over the TV production side of the project. Both HBO and Warner Bros. are owned by Time Warner, so it seemed that the studio would be an ideal fit.

Director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer will still try to shop the project to other studios, although it isn't known if Russell Crowe will still be available to star. The story centers on Roland Deschain, the last in a line of gunslingers who journeys to The Dark Tower, in a last-ditch effort to save humanity.