It’s been a bit of a strange journey for The Dark Tower, Sony and Nikolaj Arcel’s long-in-development – and we do mean long-in-development – adaptation of Stephen King’s undisputed magnum opus that’s booked in for release on August 4th. As we just mentioned, the project’s been in various stages of development for years now, passing through numerous actors and directors until it finally started to come together in its current form.
That’s not the only concerning thing about it, though. Far from it. What’s perhaps more worrying is that it was only recently that Sony began to market the pic, which is surprising given that it’s a fairly major release and is quickly approaching. For a film like this, you’d usually see the promotional campaign start far in advance, but the studio’s only kicked things into gear in the past little while, with the first trailer finally debuting about a month ago. That’s not very much time for audiences to familiarize themselves with this world and these characters then, and it may end up hurting The Dark Tower‘s box office business.
Time will tell on that front, but at least the marketing is now well underway and earlier today, Sony brought us three brand new TV spots for the blockbuster. As expected, taking the spotlight across each one are The Gunslinger and The Man in Black. The former journeys through Mid-World and beyond in his quest to understand the towering edifice – the nexus of time, essentially. He’s sworn to protect the titular tower, while Matthew McConaughey’s enigmatic villain is sworn to destroy it.
This is very much Sony’s way of drawing the line between its two leading stars, with Elba hailing from the lighter side of the moral spectrum. By stark contrast, Matthew McConaughey’s Man in Black – a character that ought to be familiar to diehard Stephen King fans – is essentially the living embodiment of the devil himself, one who holds a tremendous amount of power over both Roland and the Earth itself.
Question marks have loomed large over Nikolaj Arcel’s adaptation ever since it was first announced – and subsequently delayed, twice – but based on the footage we have here, this could become that rare Stephen King adaptation that somehow, almost inexplicably, does the source material justice. At least, that’s the glass-half-full estimation, and we’re hopeful that we’re still saying the same thing in a few months from now.
“For thousand of generations, the Gunslingers were knights. Sworn to protect us from the coming of the dark.” Roland Deschain begins his quest toward The Dark Tower on August 4th. But will you be joining him on that journey? Let us know your early impressions of Sony’s adaptation via the comments section below.
