IGN has posted a story claiming that J.J. Abrams ("Lost", "Alias", "Mission: Impossible III") is in place to direct Stephen King's The Dark Tower series in live action form.  Now, take this with a grain of salt since no official word has been given yet, but King, who regularly writes for Entertainment Weekly did a story for EW with J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof where they each professed much admiration for the other's work.  That does lend some legitamacy to the claim, but it could all just be heresay.

I'm not sure how happy I am about this.  On the one hand, I'd love to see a live action, slavishly loyal adaptation as an HBO series, and with Abrams' television success that seems possible.  I don't think movies would work, and I don't think they'd be able to get the approval to do seven, which means they would cut elements out (probably the flashbacks, which are my favorite sections).  I'm not really a fan of Abrams' television shows.  I tried watching "Alias", but after reading that the ending didn't go anywhere, I lost interest.  The same thing happened with "Lost".  I know you "Lost" fans out there love your conspiracy theories, but trust me on this, guys...that show is going nowhere.  They are making it up as they go along.  I'll wait to judge J.J. until after I see some of this (if it is really happening).  I do think he has a good eye for direction, and as long as they don't steer too far from the books, I'll probably be on board.  My vote for Roland is Viggo Mortensen.