Last year, Ron Howard, Akiva Goldsman and Brian Grazer’s planned adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower dragged itself out of development hell, with Sony and Media Rights Capital picking up the ambitious project and setting Nikolaj Arcel (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) to direct.
In the past few months we’ve heard that Matthew McConaughey has been offered the role of the villainous Man in Black, a.k.a. Randall Flagg, with Idris Elba said to be up for the lead, the gunslinger Roland Deschain, and with the cast seemingly coming together, author King has told Rolling Stone that he believes the project is finally moving forward.
“It looks to me like it’s more likely than not it’ll happen at this point. Let’s put it that way. I can’t say with any certainty. I know that they’re trying to make deals with these actors [and] with Sony. That’s the extent of my knowledge.”
The Dark Tower has been in the works since 2007, having passed through the hands of directors J.J. Abrams and Ron Howard, although Howard remains involved in a producing capacity. It was originally set up at Universal for a planned trilogy of films along with two TV seasons on HBO, before the studio pulled the plug in 2011 due to budgetary concerns.
https://youtu.be/XUGnM460Waw?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
Originally published February 10, 2016. Updated November 29, 2022.
