Fans who have been hoping for a book-by-book adaptation of Stephen King's THE DARK TOWER saga are learning just how far off from that the actual cinematic adaptation will be with every new casting announcement. The screenplay director Nikolaj Arcel wrote with Anders Thomas Jensen, Akiva Goldsman, and Jeff Pinkner pulls inspiration from the entire series, so in addition to Idris Elba playing the saga's hero, gunslinger Roland Deschain, and Matthew McConaughey playing the villain, The Man in Black, we also have Abbey Lee rumored to be taking on the role of Tirana, a character from the seventh book in the series, and Jackie Earle Haley as vampire leader Sayre, who first appeared in the fifth book.
Now another character has been confirmed to be reaching the screen sooner than they were on the page: Fran Kranz has been cast to play the Man in Black's right-hand man Pimli. A character from the seventh book.
Kranz has the distinction of having played one of my least favorite characters ever to appear in a film (his infuriating stoner character in THE CABIN THE WOODS), so while he doesn't match the "overweight and balding" description of the literary Pimli, I am very confident in his ability to make this guy a detestable villain.
Also in the cast is Tom Taylor as Jake Chambers, who did show up in the first book.
Based on the Stephen King-penned fantasy series, the film will follow a wandering knight (Elba) who is the last hope of the fallen land of Mid-World. He is charged with finding the Dark Tower while battling his nemesis the Man in Black (McConaughey).
THE DARK TOWER is set for release on February 17, 2017, and if it does well we might get the sequels and television series that were being planned at one point.
THE CABIN IN THE WOODS