The Dark Tower Movie Officially Delayed To Summer 2017

Looks like Idris Elba’s painstaking journey to The Dark Tower will run a little longer than expected.

Not for the first time, Warner Bros. has postponed its long-anticipated Stephen King adaptation, according to a report unearthed by Entertainment Weekly, pushing the genre-blending epic to summer 2017. That means Nikolaj Arcel’s feature has retreated from the crowded February window – John Wick: Chapter Two, The LEGO Batman Movie, Fifty Shades Darker and Danny Boyle’s T2: Trainspotting 2 all occupy different February releases – and sources close to production told EW that this extra time will allow the VFX team to complete any unfinished effects shots.

Indeed, that was one of the big takeaways from last month’s leaked trailer, one that showcased Elba and Matthew McConaughey in action as Roland Deschain (AKA the Gunslinger) and the Man in Black, respectively. In between shots of Mid-World and Tom Taylor’s Jake, the bootleg recording was littered with visible green screens, indicating that The Dark Tower simply wouldn’t have been ready in time for February.

Per EW:

“It’s a very fiscally responsible budget, and trying to stay in budget to make money and stay profitable means the VFX won’t be finished in time [for February],” one source tells EW, on condition of anonymity. “Now that there’s more time, they’re not paying rush charges to get the effects where they need to be.”

Plotting course for a mystical tower – one that stands at the nexus of countless dimensions – Idris Elba will now take point as the Gunslinger a little later than expected. How this affects Warner’s planned TV spinoff – if at all – also remains to be seen.

Once slated for February 17, The Dark Tower movie has now relocated to summer. We’ll keep you updated as Warner Bros. zeroes in on a specific date.