It took some time and a lot of headaches, but production is officially underway on an adaptation of Stephen King's massive tome, The Dark Tower. There have been some huge plans for the film, as well, spanning multiple sequels and a potential TV series, the latter aspect seeming like a pipe dream at this point. But if there's anything to take away from King and director Nikolaj Arcel's comments to EW, it's that the project is still very much a work in progress.
First off, Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey have been confirmed for the film, in the roles of Roland Deschain and the villainous Randall Flag, respectively. Abbey Lee (Mad Max: Fury Road) is also in talks for the role of Tirana with more casting to come. While that's amazing news, some fans will take issue with King's reveal that the film will skip the beginning of the story and jumps straight to the middle....
“[The movie] starts in media res, in the middle of the story instead of at the beginning, which may upset some of the fans a little bit, but they’ll get behind it, because it is the story."
Arcel adds that, “A lot of it takes place in our day, in the modern world", leading to speculation the story will be based on Book 3, The Waste Lands, because it's a big chunk of the tale and could easily be given a current context.
As for the whole TV side of things, it sounds like the early part of the story is being held for that in case that ever comes to fruition, with King stating “They’re still holding on to this idea that they can do a TV series, and they’ve got it pegged for that."
So if The Dark Tower is a hit, then expect much more to follow. Sony plans to open the film on January 13th 2017.
