It took 35 years to happen, but Stephen King‘s magnum opus, The Dark Tower, is finally heading theaters this year. As you might imagine, a lot of effort went into making The Dark Tower a reality. For nearly a decade, there was talk of an ambitious TV series adaptation, on top of at least three feature films. For now, there’s only one movie lined up, but we suspect the rest of the books in the series will get their shot if audiences respond to the first installment.

Unlike most adaptations, The Dark Tower isn’t simply going to rehash the events of the novels. In fact, readers of the books may actually get something that they’ve wanted to see for a long time. Want to know more? This is our continually updated breakdown of everything Dark Tower as we get closer to its release on August 4, 2017.

Update: 6/26/2017

Wondering what a Gunslinger is supposed to be in the world of The Dark Tower? Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, and even King himself explain the mythology of the Gunslingers in a new feature from the official twitter account of the film.

First comes smiles, then lies. Last is gunfire. Watch an exclusive first look at #DarkTowerMovie, in theaters August 4. pic.twitter.com/V83WqcXD7I

— Dark Tower (@DarkTowerMovie) June 26, 2017

Update: 6/20/2017

Stephen King has previously hinted that The Dark Tower movie is actually a sequel to the novels rather than a direct adaptation. In a new interview with IGN, director Nik Arcel said “it is, in fact, a continuation. It is a canon continuation. That’s exactly what we intended and what Stephen King has signed off on.”

For those of you who haven’t read the novels, we won’t spoil how and why the film functions as both a sequel and an adaptation. But we will share the tweet that excited Dark Tower fans.

The Dark Tower is close, now. The Crimson King awaits. Soon Roland will raise the Horn of Eld. And blow. pic.twitter.com/rqGSKM3dWL

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) May 19, 2016

In the same interview with IGN, Arcel reports that King was pleased after a screening of the film. “He said ‘This is not exactly my novel but this is very much the spirit and the tone and I’m very happy.’”

Update: 6/04/2017

We’ve still got over a month until The Dark Tower hits theaters, but the film is finally starting to make its presence known with a new TV ad that features a lot of clips that we’ve previously seen. What’s interesting is the way that it condenses the mythology behind the Gunslingers into an easily understood 30-second spot. There is also an amusing scene at the end that appears to be new footage.

Update: 5/19/2017

Two new posters for The Dark Tower have been released. First up, Idris Elba’s Roland Deschain, a.k.a. the Gunslinger, who is shown with one of our favorite quotes from the book series.

And the second poster features Matthew McConaughey’s Walter Padick, a.k.a. the Man in Black!

Update: 5/03/2017

Gather your Ka-tet and tell them that our long journey to The Dark Tower is almost over…but the battle for the fate of the multiverse has just begun! After months of teasing, the first trailer for  has arrived, and it clearly pays tribute to its influences while paving the way for a final showdown between Roland Deschain and the Man in Black!

Update: 3/20/2017

The Dark Tower is gonna turn our world upside down…literally, if the new poster is any indication. There may be some inspiration from Inception in this design, but it’s a cleverly laid out image that reveals its heroes and even features the villain if you know where to look. At the very bottom, we see the Gunslinger himself, Roland Deschain, along with Jake Chambers (Tom Taylor) as they prepare to embark on an impossible quest.

The thing that we love the most about this image is the way that the negative space actually creates the illusion of the Dark Tower itself. And if you’re looking for Matthew McConaughey‘s Man in Black, check out the very top of the pic.

The Players

New #TheDarkTower movie image! Can’t wait to see this one. Hopefully trailer is coming soon. pic.twitter.com/mB7Yvf1o74

— Jordan Maison (@JordanMaison) December 8, 2016

Fan-favorite actor Idris Elba has been cast as the Gunslinger, Roland Deschain; with Matthew McConaughey as the enigmatic Man in Black, Walter Padick. King has enthusiastically embraced both of the film’s leads, and the vision of director Nikolaj Arcel.

You may recall that Roland had a Clint Eastwood-inspired appearance on the covers of King’s novels. That led to some grumblings from fans over Elba’s selection. Of course, anyone familiar with Elba’s body of work should realize that he’s a fantastic actor, and very deserving of his own franchise. To his credit, King has very publicly endorsed the idea of casting Elba as Roland. And while King initially stopped short of mentioning Elba by name when he was still in talks for the role, he made his thoughts known in no uncertain terms.

To me, the color of the gunslinger doesn’t matter. What I care about is how fast he can draw…and that he takes care of the ka-tet.

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) December 12, 2015

Tom Taylor will play Roland’s sidekick/surrogate son Jake Chambers. Taylor also tweeted out the first official picture of himself in costume as Jake. It’s a nice touch that the picture includes one of Jake’s signature quotes.

Traveller, beyond lies Mid-World. #DarkTowerMovie pic.twitter.com/YxOjKKzQBy

— Tom Taylor (@TomTaylor1607) August 19, 2016

Katheryn Winnick will appear as Jake’s mother Laurie Chambers. Former Dollhouse star Fran Kranz has also signed on to play Pimli, the sidekick of the Man in Black. Watchmen star Jackie Earle Haley will play the part of the villainous Sayre, and he’s been spotted on the set playing opposite against Elba’s Gunslinger. Abbey Lee Kershaw has been cast as Tirana, a character who didn’t appear until the seventh novel in the series.

Saved For the Sequel

Since 2014, former Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul made it clear that he really wants to play Eddie Dean, one of the supporting characters in the novel series. Paul even met with executive producer Ron Howard way back in 2014. But it looks like both Eddie Dean and Susannah are sitting out of the first movie in The Dark Tower franchise. If the sequels happen, we’re pretty sure that they’ll be around.

Sound the Horn

King and Arcel have hinted at significant changes that they made to turn The Dark Tower into a movie. We examined their potential impact on Nerdist News. We revisited the issue in a later episode as well.

King went on to drop a potentially major spoiler for a movie and a major hint about how the films will present something important from the books. Only the novel readers will instantly get it, but we’re really excited about the implications!

The Dark Tower is close, now. The Crimson King awaits. Soon Roland will raise the Horn of Eld. And blow. pic.twitter.com/rqGSKM3dWL

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) May 19, 2016

The TV Series?

Before Arcel joined the project, a Dark Tower TV series was a part of the ambitious pitch for a multi-movies and television to fully adapt the novels and some of the comics as well. It seemed to be dead in the water after that. However, there was a report last fall from Entertainment Weekly that MRC and Sony Pictures are planning a television show that will be based on Wizard and Glass, the fourth novel in The Dark Tower series. While Idris Elba won’t star in the spinoff series, he may appear in it. The series will be 10-13 episodes and it was expected to shoot in 2017. However, it’s been quite some time since we have heard anything new about this part of the project.

Riddle-De-Dum! Brain-Twisters and Puzzles for Everyone!

The Dark Tower has some fun riddles to solve, and we expect that the film will have puzzles well. In the meantime, we’ve got three exclusive riddles that fans can find right here!

Are you as excited about The Dark Tower as we are? Let us know in the comment section below!

Images: Sony Pictures