'The Dark Tower' is scheduled to be released on February 17, a month after its original premiere on January 13, 2017. Despite the delay, production is said to be in the works. Meanwhile, long-time fans of the original books expressed concern over a live-action adaptation of the original series.
According to Collider, Nikolaj Arcel's upcoming live-action adaptation of Stephen King's popular fantasy novels of the same name has been pushed back from its original release date of January 13, 2017 to February 17. However, despite the month-long delay, it was reported that production for the film has already begun. Idris Elba is set to portray the main protagonist Roland Deschain while Matthew McConaughey will co-star as his villainous counterpart The Man In Black.
Another article by True Detective Rumors reported that Arcel's film will be based on multiple books and not one book in the series. The film will begin from the middle and will largely be set in the present day.
Principal photography will begin sometime in May in South Africa. The film will introduce Roland Deschain, the last living descendant of the Gunslingers, as he journeys through a barren landscape in search of a Dark Tower in order to help preserve his dying world. In the original novels, Deschain allies with characters named Jake Chambers, Eddie and Susannah Dean and Oy and battles against villains The Man in Black and the Crimson King.
J.J. Abrams of 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' and Ron Howard of 'A Beautiful Mind' were initially set to direct the first film in the planned cinematic series at different points in time. Arcel eventually got the job with Howard making way to serve as producer together with King, Akiva Goldsman, Brian Grazer.
According to The Daily Beast, fans of King's original novels greeted the news of a cinematic adaptation both with contrasting expressions of celebration and anxiety. It was previously reported that Elba's casting for a character thought of as a Caucasian man stirred some controversy. King's story itself may also pose difficulties to translate on the silver screen without straying from its own specially created world and mythology.
'The Dark Tower' is an upcoming science-fiction and horror-fantasy film directed by Nikolaj Arcel. It is based on Stephen King's long-running fantasy novels of the same name. It is scheduled to be released on February 17, 2017.
