Idris Elba In Line For Stephen King’s The Dark Tower

It finally happened. Idris Elba has officially been linked to the lead role in a movie series adapted from a long-running series of novels… but no, it isn’t James Bond.

Multiple sources report that Elba is the front runner to play Roland Deschain the Gunslinger in the long-awaited big screen adaptation of Stephen King’s ‘The Dark Tower’ at Sony.

Nikolaj Arcel is set to direct the first film based on King’s epic story which began in 1982 novel ‘The Gunslinger,’ and would continue over the course of seven further novels published over the following 30 years, ending with 2012′s ‘The Wind Through the Keyhole.’

The plan is for a suitably epic adaptation - a trilogy of movies, with two seasons of a TV show bridging the gaps between.

An unorthodox collision of western, high fantasy, science fiction and horror, ‘The Dark Tower’ follows the mysterious Deschain on his quest to the tower of the title.

In development for several years, Ron Howard had previously been attached to direct with Russell Crowe and Javier Bardem both linked to the lead.

To make matters more exciting, Matthew McConaughey is also in talks to star in the film as the villain of the piece, the Man in Black (having reportedly been given the choice between either that role or the hero).

The news comes as Elba is particularly red-hot in Hollywood, following his SAG Awards and Golden Globe nominations for his performance in ‘Beasts of No Nation.’

Picture Credit: WENN, Hodder Publishing

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