Stephen King’s epic series “The Dark Tower” is set to become a trilogy of films and a television series.

Deadline reports that NBC Universal will develop the epic project with Ron Howard at the helm for directing first film and the series’ pilot and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman adapting the novels for the first movie and serving as the show runner for the first season.

Howard says that adapting the novels across both movies and television will put the project in the same league as another huge and beloved fantasy series, “The Lord of the Rings.”

“What Peter [Jackson] did was a feat, cinematic history,” Howard tells Deadline. “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.”

“The Dark Tower” revolves around Roland Deschain, the last living member of a knightly order of gunslingers, and humanity’s last hope to save a civilization that will crumble unless he finds the Dark Tower. Howard and Goldsman describe the world as “an alternate Americana, one part post-apocalyptic, one part Sergio Leone.”

Goldsman first mentioned “The Dark Tower” to Howard and Grazer while they worked on “A Beautiful Mind” nearly a decade ago.

“Akiva said, ‘Stephen will not let go of it, but it’s like nothing else you’ve ever read,’” Howard recalled. “It was frustrating because it’s one of those works where you read it, and then at odd times, the imagery and sensations just pop up in your mind. This is going to be an amazing life experience for us, trying to do justice to the story and the universe.”

King granted an option—for $19, a number relevant to the plotline–to JJ Abrams, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. The trio were unable to bring the series to the screen and Goldsman pounced when the rights were available. He saw the same problems until Howard suggested using film and TV platforms.

The plan is to start with the feature film, and then create a bridge to the second feature with a season of TV episodes. That means the feature cast—and the big star who’ll play Deschain—also has to appear in the TV series before returning to the second film. After that sequel is done, the TV series picks up again, this time focusing on Deschain as a young gunslinger. Those storylines will be informed by a prequel comic book series that King was heavily involved in plotting. The third film would pick up the mature Deschain as he completes his journey.