Stephen King’s Dark Tower casting: genius... or not?

Stephen King’s Dark tower series is set for the big screen after bouncing around at Universal and then at Warner Brother before Sony Pictures, who is now releasing the films based on the eight-book series that first breathed life way back in 1970. 

 

Now 47 years later, fans of the series will get to see the on screen adaptation scheduled for release in early 2017.

 

 

With Mathew McConaughey playing the iconic Man in Black, there were whispers that Javier Bardem or Russell Crowe would play the role of Hero Roland Deschain. 

 

Instead, the studio brought in Idris Elba, best known for his work on the television series The Wire, The Office, and Luther as well as feature films such as America Gangster, Thor and Pacific Rim. Not only is Elba considered an Oscar worthy actor after his performance in Beasts of No Nation, but he’s British. And oh yeah, he’s black too.

 

So what’s the big deal? 

 

Fans of the series are familiar with art that shows a white Roland Deschain. 

 

And without including too many spoilers, Stephen King the writer sees Roland as a reflection of himself.

 

Not to mention the inspiration for King’s story came from the old Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns that featured a very young Clint Eastwood. So fans are going to have an expectation right?

 

“It’s better to treat it like no big deal,” Elba tells Entertainment Weekly. “There should be no difference. The character that was written in Stephen’s imagination, it could be any color. It just happens to be me, you know? In the artwork, it just so happens to be a white guy, but I don’t think that makes any difference… I think what’s great about it, if I want to say anything about it, is that it is a sign of the times in terms of a colorless society. People go, ‘A good actor is a good actor,’ you know?”

 

And Elba is right. Fans of The Dark Tower Series should hold into their hats, because Elba is a force to be reckoned with as he gives powerful on screen performances and was recently considered to take over the 007 franchise as James Bond for the aging Daniel Craig.

 

Elba said he’s bringing a little depth and real character to the character of Roland Deschain and his enthusiasm to play the role should breathe a lot of life into what was very nearly a dead project.

 

Elba and McConaughey should bring a special magic to this big screen adaptation that was originally inspired by the Robert Browning poem Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came.

 

Mathew McConaughey fled across the desert and Idris Elba followed… the anticipation will kill us.