Sony cements ‘The Dark Tower’ film for a 2017 release
Sony Pictures has shuffled their release calendar for 2017 with films like Bad Boy 3 and a Barbie film, but the biggest news surrounds the long-awaited adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower.
Sony Pictures staked out February 17, 2017 as the release date, where they’ll be putting The Dark Tower. The adaptation just recently confirmed Idris Elba as the lead role of Roland Deschain while Matthew McConaughey will play the Man in Black. The change in release date for The Dark Tower only pushes it back by a month after previously being slated for a January 2017 release.
Now The Dark Tower will open against Maze Runner: The Death Cure and the Matt Damon action flick The Great Wall.
Joining Elba and McConaughey is Abbey Lee from Mad Max: Fury Road, who will play Tirana, a member of the Low Men who serve the series’ principle antagonist, the Crimson King. Expect plenty of casting news as production will need to start soon to make the release time frame.
The film is expected to be an adaption of the first Dark Tower novel, The Gunslinger, with a multi-film franchise planned from the popular novel series. The film will be directed by Nikolaj Arcel with Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, King and Akiva Goldsman producing.
King considers The Gunslinger to be his “magnum opus” – a story about Roland of Gilead, and his quest to catch the Man in Black, the first of many steps towards Roland’s ultimate destination: The Dark Tower.
The main story takes place in a world that is somewhat similar to the Old West, but exists in a parallel universe. Roland exists in a place where “the world has moved on” with many references to pop culture and technology of the times.
