Sometimes it’s nice to just have rumors and speculation confirmed from the highest of sources, isn’t it? After months of assumptions and probabilities, we got the Twitter-verse’s equivalent of a press release, which translates to a “nailed it” to all of the entertainment pundits waxing theoretical. Author Stephen King has confirmed via Twitter that Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey will indeed star in the long-awaited big screen adaptation of his beloved book series The Dark Tower, as gunslinger Roland Deschain and his nemesis the Man in Black, respectively.
It's official: The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed. #DarkTowerMovie @McConaughey @IdrisElba
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) March 1, 2016
King’s book series has been been up for either a movie franchise or a television franchise, possibly HBO, for years now. He spoke to EW and revealed the movie will take place in “our day, in the modern world,” and that aside from beginning with the first line of the first book, the movie’s plot will actually pick up in the middle of the story, possibly to the chagrin of some fans. But with a massive literary tome like this, it’d be silly to expect a direct page-to-screen relation.
For their part, the two actors also took to Twitter to engage in some friendly “we’re about to play enemies in a film” banter.
.@McConaughey you have one new follower. #DarkTowerMovie https://t.co/5fSKF02C7I
— Idris Elba (@idriselba) March 1, 2016
.@idriselba come and get me, I look forward to it. #DarkTowerMovie https://t.co/4gxqm2GPo3
— Matthew McConaughey (@McConaughey) March 1, 2016
Elba will play the series’ hero, the first book’s titular Gunslinger, a man in a wasteland who has to walk across the country in order to reach the fabled Dark Tower. Standing in his way will be McConaughey’s black-clad uber villain (a.k.a. Walter Padick or Walter O’Dim). Roland will then have to gather a group of other heroes to help make the journey, though no word yet on who might be cast as those characters.
It’s definitely in good hands with actors of this level of talent and standing, so we’re about as stoked as anyone can be to see how this project all comes together. And we truly won’t have all that long to wait; The Dark Tower movie is slated to be released Jan 13, 2017. (Really? January? What are release dates anymore?!?!)
What do you think about this casting? Are you prepared to trudge across the land with these two? Let us know in the comments below!
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HT: Complex
Images: Warner Bros/Paramount
Kyle Anderson is the Weekend Editor and a film and TV critic for Nerdist.com. Follow him on Twitter!
