Christian Bale and Jennifer Carpenter New Dark Tower Favorites?

As I’ve mentioned before, casting for Ron Howard’s adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower is hot and heavy, with many of Hollywood’s leading men vying for the role of the gunslinger, Roland Deschain.

The New York Post has recently revealed that Christian Bale has pulled ahead of two of the more popular contenders, Javier Bardem and Viggo Mortensen.

The male lead isn’t the only one getting attention though as Dexter’s Jennifer Carpenter and Ghita Tazi are two of the names being mentioned for the role of Susannah.

Update
Breaking news from SlashFilm has indicated that Javier Bardem has officially been offered the role of Roland Deschain in The Dark Tower but no formal negotiations have begun yet.

Who will finally rise as the gunslinger? I guess it’s anybody’s guess at the moment, depending on the validity of the sources, which can occasionally jump the gun at times.

While my personal preference would be Viggo Mortenson, I think Bardem is a more likely candidate than Bale, who is getting ready to suit up as Batman for what might be the last time in The Dark Knight Rises. The Dark Tower is a massive saga that will travel back and forth from the theater to the television so whoever lands the role of Roland will need the time necessary for such a complicated and lengthy filming schedule.