During last month’s CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas, Sony Pictures confirmed that production has started on the long-awaited adaptationThe Dark Tower, based onStephen King’s iconic novel series. There had been reports in the past that claimed the adaptation is actually based on the author’s third book,The Waste Lands, where much ofThe Dark Towermythology was laid out, but that was never confirmed. AuthorStephen Kingnow says that the movie will start out in a very familiar place for fans of the book.
The plot ofThe Waste Landsfollows Roland Deschain (Idris Elba) and his ka-tet’s efforts to reach out to Jake (Tom Taylor), who is from a different place and time, on their quest to findThe Dark Tower. In the book, that “different place and time” was New York City in 1977, but it may be changed to modern day. During an interview withEntertainment WeeklyRadio on Sirius XM, the author confirmed the movie will start exactly where the books start, but there is a twist.
“The movie will start where the books start. ‘The Man in Black fled across the desert, andthe Gunslingerfollowed.’ I’ve been pretty insistent about that, and I think everybody’s on board with it. It starts sort of in medias res, in the middle of the story instead of at the beginning, which may upset some of the fans a little bit. But they will get behind it, because it is the story.”
So, while the exact opening ofStephen King’s first book will be intact, it seems that the rumors may be true about the movie being adapted fromThe Waste Lands. Of course, the author didn’t specify exactly thatThe Dark Towermovie will be based on that book, but the previous rumors claimed that the adaptation will take aspects from both the first book and the third book.Stephen Kingalso had nothing but praise forIdris Elbaas Roland Deschain, a.k.a. The Gunslinger, stating he has watched his career sinceThe Wire, while directorNikolaj Arcelhad this to say about working with the actor.
“I’ve been following his career for a long time, and when we started talking, for me, it just clicked.”
Matthew McConaugheyis playing the villainous Man in Black, alongsideAbbey Leeas Tirana,Michael Barbierias Timmy andKatheryn Winnickin an unspecified role. In the books, The Man in Black is described as an “ageless deceiver and sorcerer,” who is also trying to findThe Dark Towerto rule over all of its kingdoms.Nikolaj Arceladded that the movie version of The Man in Black will be much more complex than imagined.
“We have a lot of layers to him. He’s not just this one-note villain. I think we’re very true to the novels.”
The Dark Tower movieis set for release on June 11, 2025, where it will go up against a pair of highly-anticipated sequels, Universal’sFifty Shades Darkerand 20th Century Fox’sThe Maze Runner: The Death Cure. Earlier this week, we got our first look atIdris Elbaon set in his full costume, but we don’t know for sure when the studio will release an official first look of the actor as Roland Deschain. While we wait for more details, click on the player below to listen to the full audio interview withStephen KingandThe Dark TowerdirectorNikolaj Arcelbelow.
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