After several false starts and stalled attempts, Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" is finally getting the big screen adaptation that it deserves. The project has a director in Nikolaj Arcel, known mostly for "A Royal Affair" and writing the Swedish version of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo," and officially announced the casting of Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey as its two main leads yesterday.
The series follows Roland Deschain (Elba), the last in a line of ancient Gunslingers, and his "ka-tet," a handful of characters Roland draws from our reality that are connected by destiny. Together, they try to reach the Dark Tower, the epicenter of all existence, in order to save Roland's dying world. Along the way they encounter several foes, including "The Stand" villain Randall Flagg/the Man in Black (McConaughey). All told, "The Dark Tower" series is a unique blending of different genres including sci-fi, fantasy, horror and western. If that sounds like an ambitious undertaking for Hollywood, it's because it is. That is why it's taken almost a decade to get it off the ground.
Here's a look at the timeline for "The Dark Tower's" journey to the screen.
1978-2004
The source material, like the film adaptation, took a circuitous route to publishing. It began as a short story published in "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction" between 1978 and 1981. The stories are gathered together in a limited edition book in 1982, but the series doesn't officially take off until 1988, when Plume produced a paperback collection and the novel hits bookstores nationwide.
From then on, King would publish installments sporadically until 2003, when he publishes three novels in the series and brings it to an apparent close.
2007
Before everyone knew who J.J. Abrams was, the director had his sights set on "The Dark Tower." King sold the rights to the franchise for $19, a nod to a storyline in the book and in Abrams' "LOST." Unfortunately, the time-consuming TV series held writers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse hostage and the call of Hollywood brought Abrams to other projects.
The director admitted that an eight-film series was too daunting of a task, and Lindelof confessed to being too much of a fan of King's original work to properly adapt it. They released the rights in 2009.
2010
Director Ron Howard and producer Brian Glazer quickly jumped at the story when it became available. They brought on writer Akiva Goldsman to pen the script, and Universal promptly set a May 17, 2013 release date.
However, their unprecedented approach led to problems. Howard wanted to make a trilogy of films with a season of cable TV in between each movie to cover the expansive background and story that King's novels include. Though unorthodox, Javier Bardem had agreed to take on the role of Roland in 2011.
2011
Unfortunately, Universal couldn't stomach the budget of such an ambitious and sprawling project. Even after rewrites and budget cuts, the studio wouldn't get behind the project. Howard reportedly flirted with HBO and Netflix, but nothing ever came of it.
2012
Warner bros. then attempted to get in on the action by attaching Russell Crowe in the lead role. Goldsman, who had a long working relationship with WB, rewrote the script, only for the studio to pass. However, Media Rights Capital, best known for "Ted" at the time, swooped in to try and make a go of it.
At the same time, King added another chapter to the story with the eighth novel, "The Wind Through The Keyhole."
2013-2014
MRC took the project to a private investor while rumors swirled that Liam Neeson and Aaron Paul were being eyed for Roland and Eddie Dean, respectively. As had become customary by that point, the project couldn't find the requisite funding and soon died.
2015-2016
In 2015, "The Dark Tower" received a much needed injection of life when Sony Pictures acquired the rights and started to get the ball rolling. Arcel was brought on to direct over the summer and began rewriting the script as the studio aimed for a January 2017 release date. Rumors quickly began to pop up that McConaughey was being eyed for a lead role and in February, the movie made its first official casting with Abby Lee in the female lead. Finally, after months of speculation, McConaughey and Elba have been officially cast.
Production is now set to begin in April.
