It’s fair to say that Stephen King’s The Dark Tower has been through the mill during its journey towards the big screen – or towards any screen, in fact. For a long while Ron Howard was at the helm, with Javier Bardem one of many names to be linked. Now, A Royal Affair director Nikolaj Arcel is at the helm, as well as writing the screenplay alongside Akiva Goldsman, Anders Thomas Jensen and Jeff Pinkner. With Matthew McConaughey being linked with the villainous Man in Black, another name has been thrown into the fray: Idris Elba.
According to Deadline, Elba (Luther, Thor: The Dark World, Beasts Of No Nation) is the frontrunner to play Roland Deschain, aka ‘the Gunslinger’, who follows the shadowy Man in Black across the desolate, post-apocalyptic Earth, avoiding the various traps the latter has set for him, such as demons and possessed townsfolk.
To be honest, we couldn’t be happier with this news. An actor of Elba’s calibre has been crying out for a lead role in his own franchise, and if confirmed, this would kill two birds with one stone. Not only would we see him in a role that we’re sure he’d own; we’d also finally see The Dark Tower on the big screen. Adapting Stephen King’s series of novels would be a challenging proposition, sure, but one we’re sure Arcel and his team are capable of overcoming.
The film will be adapted from the first novel in the series (there are eight in total), 1982’s The Gunslinger, with more pretty much guaranteed to follow of this is a success.
The Dark Tower will be released in cinemas on 13 January 2017. You can download the Stephen King: The Complete Manual digital edition from GreatDigitalMags.com now. For more news about the biggest movies, pick up the latest issue of SciFiNow.
