Idris Elba’s name is being tossed around as the potential lead in the big screen adaptation for Stephen King’s The Dark Tower. According to Deadline, he is now being called the frontrunner to play Roland Deschain, a role said to be narrowed down to Elba and Javier Bardem.
The Dark Tower will mark the first of multiple films to be based on King’s series of eight western-fantasy novels. Provided Elba does lock down the role of Deschain, his character will face off against The Man In Black, the lead villain whom Matthew McConaughey is currently in talks to play.
Already committed to The Dark Tower is Danish director Nikolaj Arcel (A Royal Affair, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo [the Swedish film version]). He has been working with Anders Thomas Jensen (Election Night) on a rewrite of the script, last drafted by Akiva Goldsman and Jeff Pinkner.
Elba has been a fixture in headlines as of late. With the seemingly endless sea of James Bond rumors, yesterday’s SAG nomination for his role in the Netflix feature Beasts Of No Nation directed by Cary Fukunaga and today’s duo of Golden Globe nods for his role in Luther and in Beasts, it’s easy to see why.
Elba is slated to appear in a handful of films in 2016 including the action thriller Bastille Day, the drama A Hundred Streets and Justin Lin’s Star Trek sequel, Star Trek Beyond. He will also voice characters in three Disney projects, Zootopia, Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book and the long-awaited Finding Nemo sequel Finding Dory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=CZqbaYLPf4A
Originally published December 10, 2015. Updated November 29, 2022.
