The Dark Tower may have found its leading man. In a perfect world, Idris Elba would already be getting measured for his holster and spurs and making his way to the set. Alas, the news is still fresh and unconfirmed, but Deadline reports that the Luther actor is the frontrunner for the part of Roland Deschain.
The Stephen King fantasy-sci-fi saga, on which the movie is based, revolves around Deschain's journey across a ruinous world to reach the titular tower. With eight novels in the series and Roland at the heart of the tale, it's safe to say this is a major part for Elba, who was recently the centre of a viral campaign to take over the role of James Bond.
Sony's plans are for a cinematic universe of movies based on King's novels with the first to follow the first Dark Tower novel, The Gunslinger. In that story Roland is in pursuit of a shady villain called the Man In Black who also goes by a dozen or so different monickers throughout the books. Randall Flagg, Walter Padick, Richard Fannin to name but three. Whichever name writer-director Nikolaj Arcel and co-writer Anders Thomas Jensen settle on will need to suit Matthew McConaughey; he is still attached to play the villain. The Dark Tower opens on January 13, 2017.
Images: Warner Bros.
