If you were worrying that Idris Elba as Roland Deschain in one movie adapted from Stephen King's Dark Tower stories might not quite be enough Elba, take heart: according to Entertainment Weekly, he's set to make an appearance in the companion TV series.
Though the status of the series seemed to be in some doubt as the whole idea went through development wobbles, production company MRC and film studio Sony are pushing ahead with the plan, aiming to craft a first season that will be either 10 or 13 episodes, depending on how the story arcs work out. The show should be in production next year, even though it doesn't have a broadcast platform yet.
Elba and Tom Taylor (the film's Jake Chambers) will serve as the framing device for the story, set years before the events of the movie, and featuring a younger version of Deschain (played by someone else), then an aspiring gunslinger in the time before Mid-World collapsed into chaos.
And for its source material, the show will partly draw from The Gunslinger, but is focusing on the fourth book, Wizard And Glass, which spins its own tale of a younger Roland. “In the movie, Roland is suffering tremendous loss. The most concrete, personal, existential heartbreak a character can have,” film co-writer and series executive producer Akiva Goldsman tells EW. “If the movie chronicles his final reach toward hope again, the TV show is the loss of that hope.” For more on the series, head to EW's site.
As for the movie, The Dark Tower, which also stars Matthew McConaughey and Jackie Earle Haley, will be out in the UK on February 17 next year.