First, let’s get it out of the way: Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba are officially confirmed for "The Dark Tower." Even more, cameras are now rolling on the project which had some big ambitions, including multiple films, and a TV series, but it seems the latter idea isn’t quite locked down yet. And even more, the first film, won’t be starting with the first book in Stephen King‘s series.
READ MORE: The Essentials: 5 Great Films Based On Stephen King Novels
The magazine has done some speculation, and guess that the saga of Roland Deschain and The Man In Black will start with the third book, "The Waste Lands," because it’s where much of the story begins to take shape, and even though it’s set in 1977, it could easily be updated. But again, that’s just supposition.
As for the early parts of the story, that stuff is being saved in the hopes that the TV series plan does come to fruition. “They’re still holding on to this idea that they can do a TV series, and they’ve got it pegged for that,” King said, and it would seem everyone involved is waiting to see if the movie clicks with audiences before going all in with a massive franchise.
“Other people have tried fantasy spectacle. Sometimes it works, sometimes it works really well when it’s based on a series of books, like ‘The Hunger Games‘ or ‘Harry Potter,’ and sometimes it doesn’t,” King added. “What I have to go back to is this: We have Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, two great actors. You’ve got a great production team and Akiva Goldsman as the primary script writer. The team is in place, so we’ll hope for the best.”
"The Dark Tower" opens on January 13, 2017.
