With the haunted Jake Chambers (Tom Taylor) by his side, Roland Deschain takes a stroll through Earth in this all-new action shot (seen below) 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. Quick note: UK readers can expect the fantasy-fuelled epic to make its way across the pond in time for August 18th.
Meanwhile, today’s new pic comes to us by way of Empire, after the outlet spoke with Idris Elba (Deschain/The Gunslinger) about his preparation for the iconic role. Ever since The Gunslinger was first brought to life in King’s genre-defining saga, the illustrious author has continually compared his anti-hero to Clint Eastwood. Be it Dirty Harry, Unforgiven, or The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, Eastwood was at the forefront of Hollywood’s Western genre for years, and Elba isn’t about to take that legacy lightly.
Per Empire, the actor touched base on his gun-toting knight, stating that, “he has a ridiculous amount of skill. I did a lot of preparation on gun handling and mechanics. That aspect is definitely not ignored.”
He doesn’t aim with his hand, nor does he kill with his gun; instead, The Gunslinger kills with his heart. And though Empire’s new image catches our hero during a period of downtime, it’s still fascinating to see Idris Elba’s weary lead stroll through a modern-day Earth.
The Dark Tower is expected to flit between Earth and Mid-World throughout the course of Nikolaj Arcel’s adaptation, and while The Gunslinger discovers an arch-enemy in the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey), Idris Elba went on to tell Empire that the dynamic between his Roland Deschain and Jake Chambers anchors the movie.
The relationship is the central heartbeat. The worlds are huge and weird, and it’s a lot to take in if you haven’t got anything to bite onto.
“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.
