Official: THE DARK TOWER Will Star Idris Elba As 'The Gunslinger' & Matthew McConaughey As 'The Man In Black'

Though the Abbey Lee casting report seemed to confirm their involvement, Stephen King has now officially announced that Elba and McConaughey will star in the big screen adaptation of his Dark Tower saga...

By MarkCassidy - Mar 01, 2016 07:03 AM EST

Filed Under: Horror

Source: EW

Sony's ambitious adaptation of Stephen King's incredibly popular series of sci-fi/fantasy novels, The Dark Tower saga, is due to begin shooting in about seven weeks time in South Africa, and the author (via EW) has officially announced that the long-rumored leads are now locked in:

Idris Elba will play Roland Deschain/The Gunslinger, while Matthew McConaughey will portray his demonic nemesis, Walter O’Dim, AKA the Man In Black.

King sent the below Tweet just before EW made the announcement, and he has also revealed that the first line of the novel that he quotes here will actually open the movie, too.

It's official: The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed. #DarkTowerMovie @McConaughey @IdrisElba
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) March 1, 2016

However, that doesn't mean this film will be a direct adaptation of the first novel in the series, The Gunslinger. Director Nikolaj Arcel tells EW that the movie will be set in our time and "the modern world", while King adds: "[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.”

The Dark Tower is set for release on Jan. 13, 2017, and be sure to click the link below for much more on the project.

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174 Comments

1 2 3 4 5

Desr0w - 3/1/2016, 7:18 AM

I like Idris Elba but there's only one Roland Deschain

GhostDog - 3/1/2016, 7:27 AM

Yeeeeeeeees!!! Idris is gonna kill it. Finally getting his own franchise. He's worthy of it!

I love this series. When I first read it, I was so obsessed.

MattBellissimo - 3/1/2016, 7:29 AM

Oh, this is still happening?

NoPhucksGiven - 3/1/2016, 7:31 AM

Idris is about to own this role. I'm looking forward to seeing this.

FlyntCoal - 3/1/2016, 7:32 AM

Never read any of this but because of this cast, I might.

Two of my favorite actors going right now.

Keldor - 3/2/2016, 8:10 AM

@FlyntCoal - You will love it by the second book.

FlyntCoal - 3/2/2016, 10:36 PM

@Keldor - Nice! I'm looking forward to it.

PsychoticSpaceRaccoon - 3/1/2016, 7:34 AM

Wasn't Ron Howard attached to direct/produce this?

If not, who?

RandalCabbage - 3/1/2016, 7:35 AM

looking forward to this!

Meteor - 3/1/2016, 7:35 AM

Pretty huge cast! I only read the first book so far, but I have to go on!

1 2 3 4 5

Official: THE DARK TOWER Will Star Idris Elba As 'The Gunslinger' & Matthew McConaughey As 'The Man In Black'

Though the Abbey Lee casting report seemed to confirm their involvement, Stephen King has now officially announced that Elba and McConaughey will star in the big screen adaptation of his Dark Tower saga...

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