While it seems every Stephen King property under the sun gets a movie version these days (like this summer’s “Cell,” which nobody saw), two big time books from the author are gearing up for the big screen. Yesterday we got our first look at Pennywise in “It,” and today comes the first official snaps of Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey in the epic adaptation of “The Dark Tower.”
The movie, which is being directed by Nicolaj Arcel (“A Royal Affair“), has the enormous task of trying to orient viewers, especially those who may not be familiar with the saga of the Gunslinger, into a story that spans multiple books. So, they’re going to drop audiences right into the heart of it.
“When we meet Roland he’s a bit lost. He’s been walking around for a long time, so he definitely feels like a man who’s… coiled,” Elba told EW.
“There’s a mystical element to him,” the actor explained further about his character. “He’s about 200 years old. He’s been around for a long time, and has a deep-rooted connection with the [supernatural] nature of the film. Roland’s completely tuned into that. When you meet him, he’s very much a stoic man, doesn’t want to talk. But when you get to know him, he really knows quite a bit about the world and his world’s history.”
So check out the full images below, and lol McConaughey’s hair. “The Dark Tower” will be released next year.
Elba’s looking very menacing as Roland. Maybe that will shut up all Dark Tower’s obsessed fans and their neverending whining about how he doesn’t look like Clint Eastwood and doesn’t have blue eyes. Glad McConaughey went with the crazy hair. Thought he might recycle Randall Flagg’s mullet from The Stand. Be interesting to see if the movie identifies him as not only Walter, Marton, the Man in Black but as Flagg too. And will there be a Stephen King universe tie-in with The Stand, etc.?