In just under six weeks, Stephen King fans will be getting something some of them have been waiting for since 1982 – a cinematic adaptation of the ideas and characters presented in his epic Dark Tower series. The movie isn't quite what fans were expecting all this time, since it's not a direct adaptation of any of the books, instead serving as a continuation of the series, but maybe seeing familiar elements remixed into this new story will be as satisfying and entertaining for them as it seems to have been for King himself.
THE DARK TOWER film has the following synopsis:
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 Gunslinger, Roland Deschain, has been locked in an eternal battle with Walter O'Dim, also known as the Man in Black, 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.
Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey star as Roland Deschain and Walter O'Dim, respectively, and are joined in the cast by Tom Taylor, Fran Kranz, Jackie Earle Haley, Katheryn Winnick, Abbey Lee, and Claudia Kim.
As we ramp up to the release date, a new featurette on THE DARK TOWER has been released, one which introduces the characters and sets up the story for audience members who may not have read the books, while also letting fans of the books get a glimpse of how these things have been handled for the movie. The 2 minute featurette is followed by the film's trailer in the video embedded below.
While there are some cool visuals and I like a lot of the people involved with the making of the film, I have to admit that I'm not feeling much hype for this one at the moment. I was always a Dark Tower reader who was content with the story being left on the page, and my interest in seeing this continuation play out on the screen is sort of waning the closer we get to release rather than building. But that's me, I'm sure there are plenty of King fans who are very excited for THE DARK TOWER.
Directed by Nikolaj Arcel from a screenplay he wrote with Anders Thomas Jensen, Akiva Goldsman, and Jeff Pinkner, THE DARK TOWER will be reaching theatres on August 4th.