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Some of Hollywood's most popular young actors are about to become the stars of the latest anime-to-movie sensation.

The upcoming live-action remake of "Akira" is coming together for its planned August start date, and Splash Page reports on a list of actors who've allegedly received the script: Robert Pattinson, Andrew Garfield and James McAvoy are just some of the names reportedly in contention for roles. Casting is far from finalized, however, so we'll have to wait and see how this one shakes out.

We have more news past the jump, including who might end up directing "Cleopatra," which horror writer might be penning a "The Walking Dead" episode and what ever happened to Brad Pitt's "World War Z" adaptation.

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Tags akira, Andrew Garfield, brad pitt, chris pine, cleopatra, david fincher, garrett hedlund, Ian McShane, Jack the Giant-Killer, james mcavoy, joaquin phoenix, justin timberlake, Michael Fassbender, robert pattinson, Stephen King, sucker punch, The Walking Dead, world war z

Describing "The Dark Tower" as a huge, sweeping epic doesn't even begin to justly acknowledge the size and scope of Stephen King's revered fantasy saga. And it's only getting bigger.

In his official newsletter, King made the surprising revelation that an eighth "Dark Tower" novel is on its way, despite the fact that the series concluded after book seven. But King has found a way to expand the adventures of Roland Deschain in the form of "The Wind through the Keyhole," a new book set for release in 2012.

King says the new novel will take place between "The Wizard and the Glass" and "Wolves of the Calla," the fourth and fifth books in the series, resulting in what the author describes as "The Dark Tower 4.5."

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Tags Stephen King, The Dark Tower

Mankind is on a collision course with a world-ending plague and the dangerous Randall Flagg. Oh, don't get all dour; it's just the movies, folks. We're talking about "The Stand," the developing feature film adaptation of Stephen King's massive and classic novel.

"The Stand" has already undergone the adaptation treatment, previously latching its jaws onto reality by way of a television miniseries that King himself wrote and produced. But King is going to have significantly less involvement in the latest adaptation of his beloved book, if his own words on the subject are any indication.

"I didn't know anything about the remake until I read about it on the Internet," King revealed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. That's just one of the ten things he knows about "The Stand." What else does he know?

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Tags Stephen King, the stand

Between the forthcoming feature film adaptations of "The Dark Tower" and "The Stand," you might think that movies based on Stephen King's novels were at an end. But it appears that the trend is only just beginning.

Just like the premise of the story itself, "Pet Sematary" is rising from the grave for a cinematic revival. The Los Angeles Times reports that Matthew Greenberg, who previously adapted King's short story "1408," is set to turn in his script based on King's zombie-strewn tale to Paramount, though the studio itself would not officially comment on the report.

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Tags Matthew Greenberg, Pet Sematary, Stephen King

"The Stand" is going to be a movie. Again, I mean.

Stephen King's post-apocalyptic opus is getting the big screen treatment from Warner Bros and CBS Films, The Hollywood Reporter reveals. The novel was already the subject of a six-hour miniseries -- which, it should be noted, still made liberal changes to the original text -- but WB and CBS think they can get the job done in two hours. Here's my tip for them: hire Frank Darabont. The rest will work itself out naturally.

The studios still need to sit down and chat with potential writers and directors, so there's plenty of time to go out and check out the 1100+ page "uncut" version of the book. In celebration of the announcement of "The Stand," let's look back on some of the best film adaptations of King's work. Just one note: horror flicks only here. I had to figure out some way to exclude "The Shawshank Redemption," right? Read more...

Tags cujo, misery, Pet Sematary, salem's lot, Stephen King, The Shining, the stand

The tentative release date for the first "Dark Tower" film is still three years away, but potential director Ron Howard can't get Stephen King's beloved fantasy series out of his head.

"I really can't stop thinking about it," Howard told the Los Angeles Times. "We've been meeting and talking and I've been reading and researching and just kind of living with it... We're finding the shape of it. We're moving quickly now, as quickly as we can, and I feel challenged in the most exciting ways." Read more...

Tags daniel craig, dark tower, hugh jackman, Jon Hamm, ron howard, Stephen King, Viggo Mortensen

Apparently today is the day for weird film-to-Broadway news. First up is "Sister Act," which EW.com says is primed to take its act to the Great White Way beginning April 20, 2011. This news is somewhat understandable, as the 1992 film starring Whoopi Goldberg was a box-office hit, and a musical adaptation is already enjoying a lucrative run in London's West End.

On the stranger end of the stick, Deadline has confirmed that a revival of "Carrie" the musical is in the works. No, not Carrie as in the "Sex and the City" leading lady (which would actually make some sense), but Carrie as in the vengeful main character of Stephen King's book, it's acclaimed 1976 movie adaptation and its not-so-acclaimed 1988 Broadway musical version (which lost $8 million dollars in its short run).

Add that to the planned "Little Miss Sunshine" musical that was announced over the summer, the confirmed Julie Taymor "Spider-man" musical and even a Broadway version of "The Notebook," and we've got a really random array of films making their way to Broadway and not enough musicals crossing over into Hollywood (I'm looking at you, "Wicked"). Here are some films that we hope never get the musical treatment. Read more...

Tags avatar, carrie, Dexter, Little Miss Sunshine, Love Actually, Moulin Rouge, pirates of the caribbean, Sister Act, spider-man, Stephen King, The Bourne Identity, the departed, The Notebook, Whoopi Goldberg

Major "Dark Tower" news - after months of rumors, deliberation, negotiation, etc. Deadline reports that Universal Pictures and NBC Universal Television have made a deal to adapt Stephen King's beloved sci-fi/fantasy behemoth "The Dark Tower" into both a feature film trilogy and a network TV series.

Ron Howard will direct the initial movie and season one of the TV series. Both will be written by Akiva Goldsman, who will also produce with King and Howard's Imagine Entertainment production partner Brian Grazer.

Howard told Deadline that their ambitious undertaking was inspired by Peter Jackson's history-making approach to the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy:

“What Peter did was a feat, cinematic history,” Howard said. “The approach we’re taking also stands on its own, but it’s driven by the material. I love both, and like what’s going on in TV. With this story, if you dedicated to one medium or another, there’s the horrible risk of cheating material. The scope and scale call for a big screen budget. But if you committed only to films, you’d deny the audience the intimacy and nuance of some of these characters and a lot of cool twists and turns that make for jaw-dropping, compelling television. We’ve put some real time and deep thought into this, and a lot of conversations and analysis from a business standpoint, to get people to believe in this and take this leap with us. I hope audiences respond to it in a way that compels us to keep going after the first year or two of work. It’s fresh territory for me, as a filmmaker.”

What do you think of Howard's plan? Would you rather see only feature film adaptations or the TV series or both?

Tags dark tower, ron howard, Stephen King

Damn this news. I can't refer to the "two Stevens" because Steven Spielberg and Stephen King spell their first name differently. Maybe the "two Steves"? That's a little too familiar. None of that really matters in the end: the news is that these two giants -- one the father of the Hollywood blockbuster, the other a master of literary horror -- are joining forces in a super team-up of almost unmanageable proportions.

Spielberg and King will partner to produce a "limited series" for DreamWorks TV, adapted from the author's just-released "Under the Dome," Variety reports. This isn't their first partnership, however. Spielberg has held the rights to King's 1984 book "The Talisman" for more than 20 years; here's hoping "Under the Dome" gets off the ground more quickly. Read more...

Tags Stephen King, steven spielberg, Under the Dome

FROM SPLASH PAGE: Comic books based on Stephen King's novels have almost become a genre of their own lately, with adaptations and spin-offs of both "The Stand" and his "Dark Tower" series finding new life in the world of graphic novels.

This November, King's 1984 novel "The Talisman" (co-written with Peter Straub) goes the same route with a new graphic novel adaptation published by Del Rey Comics.

The story follows a teenager tasked with retrieving a magical talisman in order to save his dying mother. He must cross back and forth between our world and its alternate—and more dangerous—"twinner" counterpart.

Continue reading EXCLUSIVE: First Look At Stephen King's 'The Talisman' Graphic Novel!

Tags Stephen King, The Talisman