It’s been confirmed today that production on the big screen adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower has finally begun, and both Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba are officially on board. The former will play The Man In Black, while Elba is set to star as The Gunslinger.

Director and co-writer Nikolaj Arcel is hard at work on adapting the epic tale which spans eight novels and an assortment of comic books and short stories, and shooting will begin in South Africa seven weeks from now as Sony takes aim at a January 13th, 2017 release.

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While neither the filmmaker or author would reveal specifically where the story starts, it sounds like it will adapt the fourth instalment which shed some light on the origin stories of the lead characters. That definitely makes the most sense for this first instalment.

As for the decision to cast Elba as a character who was portrayed as Caucasian in The Dark Tower novels, King said: “I love it. I think he’s a terrific actor, one of the best working in the business now. For me the character is still the character. It’s almost a Sergio Leone character, like ‘the man with no name,’” King continues. “He can be white or black, it makes no difference to me. I think it opens all kind of exciting possibilities for the backstory.”

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When it came to finding The Dark Tower’s villain, Arcel went on to reveal what made the True Detective star the right choice for the role f The Man In Black. “Matthew is an incredible actor who can do anything. That’s how I feel about Walter Padick. He could do anything.”

So, things are sounding good then! Now we just have to hope there won’t be further delays.

 

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