It’s Friday again, but this one is pretty special and marks a big milestone: Only seven more days until Star Wars: The Force Awakens! Awesome, right?

Sadly, you do have to wait just one more week for the awakening. You can do it! Until then, don’t worry. We’ve got a brand new episode of The Flickcast to help you pass the time.

Here’s what you can expect from this week’s episode: Star Wars! John Carpenter! The Thing! Escape from New York! Agents of SHIELD! Wayward Pines! The Dark Tower! and a whole lot more! Don’t worry, we’ll stop using exclamation points now.

Picks this week include Chris’ pick of the Syfy Channel series The Expanse and Joe’s pick of the AMC martial arts action drama Into The Badlands.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship, or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook, Google+ or via email.

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When Universal Studios decided to back out of making three feature films and two limited-run TV series based on Stephen King’s mammoth post-apocalyptic Western The Dark Tower back in July, many thought it was the end of the project. Luckily for fans of the series of books, the partners in the film all pledged they were going to find a way to get a movie made. Now, the films and television series may indeed become a reality thanks to Warner Bros.

According to reports, the company is very close to a deal that will give Ron Howard (Apollo 13, Frost/Nixon) the chance to direct at least the first feature. They are also in talks with Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Men) about starring as the gunslinger Roland Deschain.

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. Politically organized along the lines of a feudal society, it shares technological and social characteristics with the American old west but is also magical.

It what may come as sad news for fans of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower who were anxiously awaiting its translation from book series to feature films and TV series, it looks like Universal has decided to pull the plug. News came late yesterday that the studio decided to not move forward with the extremely ambitions adaptation of the series which would have started with a trilogy of films and two limited-run TV series.
book

So now the filmmakers, which include star Javier Bardem, director Ron Howard, producer Brian Grazer, screenwriter Akiva Goldsman and Mark Verheiden, who was set to co-write the TV elements with Goldman, need to look for a new place to set up. It’s going to be a tall order finding a studio that’s willing to go on the hook for what would surely be a commitment of at least $500 Million (or more).

It’s not that hard to understand why Universal was reportedly more interested in doing one film to see what happens before moving forward with the rest. In this climate that’s a big bite for any studio to take and they were probably looking to minimize their risk. Makes sense.

In case you’re not familiar withThe Dark Tower series, it centers on the last living member of a knightly order of gunslingers named Roland Deschain who becomes humanity’s last hope to save civilization as he travels the land on a journey towards the Dark Tower. Along the way, he encounters all manner of characters, both good and bad, in a world that’s part Old West and part magical realm.

It’s quite an interesting series so let’s hope it finds a way to the big screen. In the meantime, Marvel is doing some excellent adaptations of the series which are plotted by Robin Furth and scripted by Peter David. Stephen King serves as Creative and Executive Director of the comics.

Writer, Producer Mark Verheiden is one of the nicest, most talented guys in the world. That’s why when we hear news concerning his accomplishments, we are happy to help spread the word.

This week it’s the announcement that Verheiden will co-write with Akiva Goldsman the NBC TV series The Dark Tower. The project, based on the best-selling series of novels by Stephen King, is being turned into a motion picture trilogy and TV series directed by Ron Howard.

Verheiden will also executive produce the The Dark Tower series, along with Goldsman, for Universal Media Studios. The series will serve as a bridge between the first and second movie in the trilogy. Also, actor Javier Bardem is reportedly negotiating to fill the main role of gunslinger Roland Deschain in both the films and the TV series.

Verheiden, of course, is no stranger to TV having worked on such series as Smallville, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica and the upcoming Falling Skies. He’s also written over 125 comic books including The American, Aliens, Predator, The Phantom and Superman as well as upcoming feature films Quatermain and Ark.

We wish him the best of luck with this new project and look forward to seeing the series once it arrives. With this kind of talent involved, we expect great things.

If you happen to be a fan of Stephen King and always wished his works were available in comic book form, you surely have been devouring the adaptations of his Dark Tower series from Marvel comics, written by Robin Furth and Peter David. Now, Marvel has launched another new series based on King’s work, Dark Tower: Battle of Jericho Hill, and we’ve got a preview for that book to share with you today.

Check out all the info from the official press release. Also, be sure to click through to see a preview of several pages from this new comic as well as the cover.

Gilead lies in ruins, the pillars of reality itself begin to crumble and only Roland Deschain can save the world in Dark Tower: The Battle of Jericho Hill #1, on-sale now! The all-star, chart-topping creative team of Peter David, Robin Furth, Jae Lee and Richard Isanove reunite for the newest chapter in what promises to be the boldest Dark Tower graphic fiction series yet! Plus, this issue features a variant cover by superstar artist Brandon Peterson!

Plus, don’t miss Dark Tower: Treachery Premiere HC, collecting the red-hot, acclaimed limited series from Robin Furth, Peter David, Jae Lee and Richard Isanove, on sale now! The fate of reality rests in the hands of Rolaind Deschain and his ka-tet—but can they save the day? Find out in Dark Tower: The Battle of Jericho Hill #1, on-sale now!

Last week on The Flickcast, Chris and Matt had to go it alone and discuss topics such as Predator and Robert Rodriguez news, blockbusters like X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Star Trek, the fate of TV shows like Dollhouse, Lost and Sons of Anarchy and lots more.

This week, Christina is back and the trio hits the ground running with discussions on the box office success and relative merits of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the latest G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra trailer, the upcoming District 9, produced by Peter Jackson, the appeal of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, renewals for some of the team’s favorite shows like Southland and Heroes, J.J. Abrams taking on an adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower and the potential box office for Star Trek’s opening weekend.

Plus, the team makes more cool picks this week including one of Matt’s favorite TV shows, Party Down from Rob Thomas and Paul Rudd, Christina’s pick of the very funny Hot Fuzz featuring Simon Pegg of this Friday’s Star Trek and Chris’ picks of the comic book Preacher by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon and the movie The Player, directed by Robert Altman, written by Michael Tolkin and starring Tim Robbins.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques or offers of sponsorship, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter or via email. Thanks for listening.

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