Ron Howard has described Idris Elba as the 'exciting' and 'dynamic' choice to play Roland Deschain in The Dark Tower.
Ron Howard
Elba is set to take on the central role of Roland, aka The Gunslinger in the adaptation of the Stephen King novel, which will be directed by Nikolaj Arcel.
Howard is set to serve as producer on the film, Akiva Goldsman, Brian Grazer, and Stephen King. G. Mac Brown, Erica Huggins, and Jeff Pinkner will serve as executive producers.
The Dark Tower is a project that has been in the pipeline for some time and, while Elba is now on board, Howard reveals that another actor was considered a few years back.
Speaking to Deadline about the casting of Roland, Howard said: "Back then, we came close to making it with Javier Bardem at one point. I've always felt that the essence of Roland was not necessarily the carbon copy of Clint Eastwood, even though that was what they used as the model on a lot of the book covers.
"The existential Western hero, played by Clint in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, and Hang 'em High and those Sergio Leone Westerns, that was what inspired young Stephen King to begin with. But I never felt it was necessarily a look as much as an essence. So did Stephen.
"In this iteration, when we began thinking about candidates, Idris just felt like a really exciting and dynamic possibility. Idris brings this crucial combination of coiled danger, quiet charisma, undercurrents of complexity and nobility, and a kind of timeless cool. These are the elemental qualities of Roland, in my mind, and I think Idris carries it incredibly well. Then there is McConaughey. I had always thought he would be a tremendous Walter."
The Dark Tower is the first film for Arcel since the fantastic A Royal Affair and I am excited to see him back. He has assembled a great cast as Matthew McConaughey, Katheryn Winnick, Jackie Earle Haley, Nicholas Hamilton, Abbey Lee, and Tom Taylor are also on board.
The Dark Tower is already one of the most talked about films of the year and is one of the early must-see movies of 2017.
The Dark Tower is released 17th February 2017.
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