Originally published July 16, 2017. Updated November 30, 2022.
Back in September, Sony and Media Rights Capital announced that it intended on launching a companion TV series to the upcoming feature film adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, using the saga’s fourth book Wizard and Glass as its inspiration.
While the series is seemingly dependent on the success of the movie, producer Akiva Goldsman has revealed that should it move ahead, he hopes to have Idris Elba reprising his role as the Gunslinger, Roland Deschain.
“The first episode of a show has been written, and we hope to retain Ron [Howard]’s original idea to mix platforms, something that seemed revolutionary ten years ago but now is something that others have done,” Goldsman tells Deadline. “Idris for sure is part of this, and if the movie is Roland Deschain the gunslinger, the show is his origin story, based on the fourth novel in the series, Wizard and Glass.”
Elba is of course no stranger to the small screen, having starred in the likes of The Wire and Luther, the latter of which has recently had a fifth series confirmed.
SEE ALSO: Exclusive: The Dark Tower poster featuring Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba
There are other worlds than these. Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, the ambitious and expansive story from one of the world’s most celebrated authors, makes its launch to the big screen. The last Knight Warrior, Roland Deschain (Idris Elba), has been locked in an eternal battle with Walter O’Dim, also known as the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey), determined to prevent him from toppling the Dark Tower, which holds the universe together. With the fate of the worlds at stake, good and evil will collide in the ultimate battle as only Roland can defend the Tower from the Man in Black.
The Dark Tower is set for release on August 4th in the States and August 18th in the UK, and sees Nikolaj Arcel (A Royal Affair) directing a cast that includes Idris Elba (Luther) as Roland Deschain, Matthew McConaughey (Interstellar) as the Man in Black, Tom Taylor (Doctor Foster) as Jake Chambers, Abbey Lee (Mad Max: Fury Road) as Tirana, Fran Kranz (The Cabin in the Woods) as Pimli, Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen) as Richard Sayre, Michael Barbieri (Little Men) as Timmy, Claudia Kim (Avengers: Age of Ultron) as Arra Champignon and Katheryn Winnick (Vikings) as Laurie Chambers.
