According to producer Brian Grazer, Ron Howard’s ambitious adaptation of Stephen King’s seven book series The Dark Tower may now get a greenlight, after some serious pruning was made to the budget.

Promoting his new movie Tower Heist, Grazer told The Playlist: “We found a way to cut out $45 million out of the budget without changing the scope and actually giving it a good ending. In the $140 million draft, the ending wasn’t quite as satisfying. Now, we’ve got $45 million, $50 million out of the way and a really satisfying ending. It’s gonna get made.”

Universal passed on the project in the summer because of budget concerns. The first movie was meant to lead into a TV miniseries that continued the story, but Grazer’s comments may mean that plans have been scaled back considerably, and he, Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman are simply looking at a single movie now to kick off the series. If that’s the case, then some considerable narrative reworking will probably be required.