Idris Elba To Return As ‘The Gunslinger’ For ‘The Dark Tower’ TV Series

MRC and Sony Pictures, which is releasing The Dark Tower Live Action film starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, have committed not just to financing a pilot but a full run of between 10 and 13 episodes, of a companion TV Show depending on how the scripts and story arcs develop, Entertainment Weekly reports. The Dark Tower show will begin shooting in 2017 with plans to premiere it in 2018, ideally, around the time the film becomes available on cable or streaming services. The Dark Tower movie (Starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey) will serve as a sequel of sorts to Stephen King’s novels as it tells the tale of Roland Deschain’s (Idris Elba) final journey to the the series’ titular structure.

While MRC has committed to making a full run of 10 – 13 episodes which will begin shooting in 2017. There’s no word on a distributor yet, although fans speculate it would end up on either a cable network like HBO or a streaming service like Netflix due to the adult nature of the material. On the other hand, shows like ABC’s Hannibal are proof that mature material could still be distributed by some of the larger network companies. Elba has signed on to appear alongside Tom Taylor (who will play Jake Chambers in the movie) as a framing device of sorts due to this show adapting Wizard and Glass, the book exploring Roland’s early years. As a result, a younger actor likely in his teens will be cast to play the younger Roland Deschain.

At the time of this report, no information has been release on whether Matthew McConaughey will be involved in the series, but given the Man in Black’s shapeshifting abilities, that may not be an issue and the character can be recast with a built in reason if McConaughey does not return in the series.

A gunslinger (Idris Elba) and an evil sorcerer (Matthew McConaughey) embark on a journey to reach a mystical tower that can save their decaying world. Produced by Ron Howard and Directed by Nikolaj Arcel, with a script co-written by Arcel and Akiva Goldsman set to be released by Sony Pictures on February 17th, 2017.