Looks like The Dark Tower film is finally happening
Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba have been confirmed for the film The Dark Tower. Elba will play the gunslinger and McConaughey will be the gunslingers enemy the man in black. The book spans eight novels, telling the story of a gunman who’s on a journey to save his world by entering a tower that stands at the nexus point in time and space. The man in black, is a devil who is trying to get to the tower to rule over seemingly infinite kingdoms.
Stephen King had a few things to say about the book series finally taking film form
“The thing is, it’s been a looong trip from the books to the film. When you think about it, I started these stories as a senior in college, sitting in a little sh*tty cabin beside the river in Maine, and finally this thing is actually in pre-production now. I’m delighted, and I’m a little bit surprised.
Nikolaj Arcel and Sony Pictures are planning to start shooting in several weeks in South Africa. They hope to release it in theaters on January 13th, 2017. Arcel will join Anders Thomas Jenssen, Akiva Goldsman, and Jeff Pinkner as screenwriters for the film. Arcel said this about the project
“What Stephen King does best is mixing the everyday, or what you might call the mundane, with the fantastical. In my view, (The Dark Tower) novels are a mix between sci-fi and fantasy and modern times. That exact mix is so Stephen King.”
King has stated that the movie will open with the first line from the first book. But the plan is not to start at the beginning of the first book, but actually somewhere in the middle. The first book The Gunslinger, published in 1982 will only be part of the story. When asked which of the books the movie will focus on Arcel gave only this clue, “A lot of it takes place in our day, in the modern world.”
The author has also said that he is a fan of the casting of Idris Elba, but does admit that he thought of someone else originally when the book was released
“I visualized (Clint) Eastwood as Roland (The Gunslinger). I loved the Spaghetti Westerns and all those widescreen close-ups of his face, especially the ones where he’d been left out in the desert and was all covered with blisters and sunburn. I thought, “That’s my Roland.””
The Man in Black is more of a tricky character, where in the books is mostly hiding behind the scenes, but is still a major part of the story. Hes a big part of the Gunslingers past and their stories intertwine as the books go on. The movie plans to bring him out of the background.
Due to McConaughey’s diverse skills and shape shifting qualities, caused Arcel to be drawn to him to play this character.
“Matthew is an incredible actor who can do anything. That’s how i feel about Walter Padick. He could do anything.”
Until its release in 2017, try and get affiliated with the series by checking out the either novels, assorted comic books and short times in the meantime.
