The Dark Tower

It’s still uncertain how high the long-awaited adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower will climb, establishing a multi-movie franchise with a TV arm fleshing out the world’s expansive backstory. That isn’t stopping MRC and writer Akiva Goldsman from rolling full-steam ahead, eying a 2017 production date with Idris Elba to briefly reprise his role in adapting King’s novel Wizard and Glass. Get the latest details!

Earlier this week it was revealed that the first footage from The Dark Tower will debut in October during Entertainment Weekly’s Popfest. Until then, Stephen King and the cast of the long-awaited adaptation have been releasing intriguing teaser photos on social media — like the latest image, which features young protagonist Jake Chambers and a quote that fans will immediately recognize.

The Dark Tower won’t hit theaters until next February, but the viral marketing campaign for the long-awaited adaptation has officially kicked off ahead of Comic-Con 2016 (which starts this week; yes, really). Following this week’s huge batch of sneak peeks, Sony has released a downloadable app for The Sombra Group, which book readers will instantly recognize as the nefarious corporation used by sinister forces to keep a foothold in our world and aid them in their quest to destroy the titular tower.

It’s all happening. Yes, really. Once thought to be too ambitious and sprawling for a big screen adaptation, The Dark Tower is finally hitting theaters next February, with Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey in the dueling roles of the heroic Gunslinger and the villainous Man in Black. New photos of the actors have debuted, along with more details on the characters they play in the long-awaited adaptation of Stephen King’s epic book series — which is going to be making some pretty big changes on its journey from page to screen.

Not long ago, Stephen King shared a teaser photo from The Dark Tower that hinted at a potentially huge game-changer for the long-developing film adaptation. The TL;DR version: It’s not an adaptation, necessarily, but a sequel. To explain exactly why that is would be to get into book spoiler territory, so I’ll save that for later in this post. For now, director Nikolaj Arcel has confirmed our suspicions about that photo and what it means for Roland’s quest in The Dark Tower.

It’s getting harder and harder for people to hide their excitement for the upcoming adaptation of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, and while we still have a long way to go before we get to see finished product — the men in Dark Tower costumes filmed across the desert, and ScreenCrush followed — many fans can pass the time glued to their computer screens, looking for any new set photos and behind-the-scenes content they can get our hands on.

“The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed” — every fan of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series has that opening line from The Gunslinger seared into their brains. We’ve already gotten a look at Idris Elba as the heroic gunslinger Roland Deschain, but today brings our first peek at the other half of that equation thanks to some new set photos of Matthew McConaughey.

We could use some good news today, and a new teaser image from the long-developing adaptation of The Dark Tower will do just fine. In another intriguing bit of promotion for the film, Idris Elba honors the iconic role of Stephen King’s heroic Gunslinger, proudly announcing his arrival as Roland Deschain — and he has not forgotten the face of his father.

Akiva Goldsman’s screenplay for The Dark Tower movie has been floating around for some time now, so if you’re a particularly curious fan, chances are you’re already aware that the adaptation is going to be a bit…different from Stephen King’s version. Just how different remains to be seen, as director Nikolaj Arcel and Anders Thomas Jensen reportedly revised the Goldsman draft before filming. But if you were expecting a faithful adaptation of The Gunslinger…well, perhaps you should adjust your expectations.

Ask any Dark Tower fan about their hopes for a big screen adaptation, and they’ll all tell you the same thing: “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Even then, most of us refuse to believe it’s actually happening until we’re sitting in a theater and the Dark Tower title card appears on screen. Well, we’re definitely a big step closer to that dream becoming a reality, as new set photos from the Stephen King adaptation reveal Idris Elba in full Gunslinger dress, sandalwood grips and all.

Today brings a few updates on Nikolaj Arcel's adaptation of The Dark Tower. First up, Vikings star Katheryn Winnick has joined the cast in a mysterious role, and given that the screenplay borrows from a few of the books in Stephen King's epic series, she could be playing just about anyone. In addition, some photos have popped up from the set, giving us our look at what could be the official logo, as well as a couple of locations and some cool practical effects.

There have certainly been some interesting choices when it comes to The Dark Tower, with characters from later books in the Stephen King series set to appear in the upcoming film — which is being developed as a potential franchise-starter. That’s a little odd, for sure, but the actual casting thus far has been spot-on, and that continues today with the addition of Cabin in the Woods star Fran Kranz.