Stephen King’s The Dark Tower will get another chance at a big screen adaptation. Sony and MRC are planning to build a franchise around the western style fantasy book series, including feature films and a TV series. The novels center on a man who belongs to a knightly order of gunslingers, and it takes place in an alternate world, which is largely magical.

This long-in-development project will be produced by the high-profile filmmaking duo of Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, along with Akiva Goldsman (Lone Survivor) and Erica Huggins (Get on Up).

A new script, adapting the first novel from the series, was written by Goldsman and prominent screenwriter Jeff Pinkner, whose credits include Lost, Alias and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Despite the project’s ten years in development limbo, King seems to remain optimistic. Remarking on the latest news, he said: “I’m excited that The Dark Tower is finally going to appear on the screen. Those who have traveled with Roland and his friends in their search for the Dark Tower are going to have their long-held hopes fully realized. This is a brilliant and creative approach to my books.”

When The Dark Tower was set up at Universal, Ron Howard was set to direct. The studio dropped the production because it was too expensive.

So far, the new project lacks a director. Tom Rothman, Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, praised the material and those involved, making a case for why potential directors should be interested in taking on the property. He said, “There are few projects out there that compare with the scope, vision, complex characters and fully drawn world that Stephen King has created with The Dark Tower. [Both King and I] love the direction that Akiva and Jeff have taken. This is a great opportunity for a director to put his or her stamp on a cool global franchise.”