Despite the heavy criticism surrounding the yet as unreleased The Dark Tower starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughy, TV bigwigs remain unmoved in their determination to adapt Stephen King’s fantasy into a TV series.

Related: The Dark Tower News, Trailers and Images

The announcement of the former The Walking Dead executive producer Glen Mazzara hoping on board as a showrunner means the adaptation of the fourth book in the series “Wizard and Glass” is still very much on track.

With production on the series due to start in 2018, it is reported that MRC is looking to produce between ten to thirteen episodes for the first season, as yet there are no cable network partners attached but MRC are hoping to find a taker before production begins.

The Dark Tower
Roland (Idris Elba) in Columbia Pictures’ THE DARK TOWER.

It is said that Elba will be playing a part in the series, reprising his role from the film as Roland Deschain (better known as The Gunslinger) with Dennis Haysbert as his father, Steven Deschain, and Tom Taylor as Jake Chambers. McConaughy hasn’t been linked with the series but his character the Man in Black aka Walter O’Dim will be making an appearance on the show in different guises which opens the door to numerous actors to take up the role.

The official synopsis for the book Wizard and Glass by Stephen King reads;

The Dark Tower beckons Roland, the Last Gunslinger, and the four companions he has gathered along the road.

In a terrifying journey where hidden dangers lurk at every junction, the pilgrims find themselves stranded in an alternate version of Topeka, Kansas, that has been ravaged by a superflu virus.

While following the deserted highway toward a distant glass palace, Roland recounts his tragic story about a seaside town called Hambry, where he fell in love with a girl named Susan Delgado and where he and his old tet-mates Alain and Cuthbert battled the forces of an evil harrier who ignited Mid-World’s final war.

Nikolaj Arcel and Anders Thomas Jensen are writing the script for the series. Akiva Goldsman, Gregory Lessans, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Jeff Pinkner are attached as executive producers.