The thing about Stephen King is that he has a very devoted readership. Not unlike fans of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books, King’s audiences know his stories inside-out and, as a result, scrutinize every screen adaptation. It is not surprising, then, that Stephen King himself has been discussing the upcoming film version of The Dark Tower – seemingly to try to manage expectations.
Talking to Anthony Breznican on Sirius XM’s Behind The Scenes With Anthony Breznican, the author emphasized the fact that the chronology of the story may be a little different from the book.
“I expect that the movie will start where the books start. Y’know, ‘The man in black fled across the desert, and the Gunslinger followed.’ I think that nails it right in place for people… I’ve been pretty insistent on that, and I think everyone’s onboard with it.
“It starts sort of in medias res, in the middle of the story instead of at the beginning, which may upset some of the fans a little bit. But they will get behind it, because it is the story.”
With Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey starring in the film, The Dark Tower boasts a supporting cast of Abbey Lee, Jackie Earle Haley, Fran Kranz and Katheryn Winnick.
Director Nikolaj Arcel (A Royal Affair) takes the helm, with a screenplay he co-wrote with Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind), Anders Thomas Jensen (Love Is All You Need) and Jeff Pinkner (Fringe). The adaptation is set for release on February 17th, 2017.
