(NEWS CENTER) — The project has been reportedly in the works since 2007 – two years longer than that of Stephen King's "It" adaptation – yet both films, some decade later, will be released about a month from each other this summer.
Columbia Pictures' "The Dark Tower," based on King's epic, eight-book series of the same name, is coming to theaters Aug. 4, and the first trailer depicts Doctor Strange-like twisted realities intertwined with modern, dark fantasy and Western themes.
The Dark Tower trailer is coming. "Mister, we deal in lead."
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) May 2, 2017
According to IMDB, "The Dark Tower" tells the story of "Gunslinger, Roland Deschain, [who] roams an Old West-like landscape where 'the world has moved on' in pursuit of the man in black. Also searching for the fabled Dark Tower, in the hopes that reaching with will preserve the dying world."
It stars Idris Elba (The Wire; Luther; Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom) as gunslinger Roland Deschain and Matthew McConaughey (Interstellar; Dallas Buyers Club; True Detective) as sorcerer Walter Padick, or the "Man in Black."
The eight books that make up the series were published over 30 years, beginning with "The Gunslinger" in 1982 and seemingly concluding with "The Wind Through the Keyhole" in 2012. It's still unclear whether the film will be an adaptation or a sequel, but director Nikolaj Arcel in a 2016 interview with EW eluded to the possibility of it serving both plot connections.
Initial conception of the film goes back 12 years, with names like J.J. Abrams and Ron Howard linked to developments that gained steam but ultimately never worked out. Finally, Sony's takeover and the studio's hiring of Arcel was enough to complete the project.
