Idris Elba is the man of the moment: He has been nominated for his roles in BEASTS OF NO NATION and LUTHER in the upcoming Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Golden Globe Awards and now, he has officially been linked to the lead role in a movie series adapted from a long-running series of novels… but if you’re wondering it it’s James Bond, we’re sorry to disappoint…
According to reports, Elba is top choice to play Roland Deschain the Gunslinger in the long-awaited big screen adaptation of Stephen King’s THE DARK TOWER at Sony.
Nikolaj Arcel will be helming 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.’
It is certainly planning to be a successful franchise with the adaptation becoming a trilogy of movies, with two seasons of a TV show bridging the gaps between. Very exciting!
THE DARK TOWER will cross all genres with a mixture of western, high fantasy, science fiction and horror elements, which follows the mysterious Deschain on his quest to the tower of the title.
The project has been in the pipeline for a while and it even had Ron Howard previously attached to call the shots with Russell Crowe and Javier Bardem both linked to the lead.
Alongside the prospect of Elba being on board the project, Matthew McConaughey is also in talks to star in the film as the villain of the piece, the Man in Black.
Things are certainly looking good for the film now and hopefully the movie will have the productions wheels in motion soon.
Idris Elba can next be seen on the small screen on Tuesday December 15th at 9pm on BBC One in a two-hour special of LUTHER.
