The Dark Tower is described as author Stephen King's magnum opus in a new behind the scenes featurette. The Dark Tower is set for release next month and will serve as the long-awaited first cinematic adaptation of King's epic body of work. Starring Idris Elba as Roland, the Gunslinger, and Matthew McConaughey as the Man in Black, The Dark Tower tells of Roland's quest to the titular tower ahead of the Man in Black, who wants to destroy the tower completely. Doing so will bring about the collapse of Roland's world, known as mid-world, as well as our world.
Roland is accompanied on his mission in The Dark Tower film by a young boy from New York, Jake Chambers, played by Tom Taylor. The featurette gives a good look at the movie itself, and also talks in greater detail about the book to film adaptation, with particular input from King, who discusses how important The Dark Tower is to him as a writer, describing it as the one story that never leaves him alone: "I just keep coming back to it."
King's commitment to The Dark Tower is further evidenced in the length of time it's taken him to publish the series of novels, let alone the tie-in comics. The first book in the series, 'The Gunslinger' was first published in 1982, while the 7th book, 'The Dark Tower', didn't arrive until 2004. King also added another eighth book to the series, a short story titled 'The Wind Through the Keyhole', in 2012. King has also revised 'The Dark Tower' series, both editing and adding to the text, as well as writing new, long and detailed prefaces to each work.
The Dark Tower director Nikolaj Arcel, and co-writer/producer Akiva Goldsman describe the movie as the corner that connects all of Kings work - including IT, The Shining, The Stand, and Misery, to name but a few. In the first Dark Tower trailer, these connections were hinted at with glimpses of the hotel from The Shining, and an old funfair advertising Pennywise as an attraction. Accurately calling The Dark Tower King's magnum opus, it seems as though we can expect more references to Kings other work dotted throughout The Dark Tower movie.
Elba says The Dark Tower is a place "you can't even imagine," and he's right; it's hard to describe to those who have no prior knowledge of King's writing. With that in mind, it will be interesting to see how accessible Arcel has made his movie version to those who haven't read the books. With a running time of just 95 minutes, the story will need to be succinctly and eloquently explained, and hopefully it will leave us wanting more in the way of sequels - not to mention, the planned tie-in TV series.
NEXT: Idris Elba Confirmed for The Dark Tower TV Show
Source: Sony Pictures
