As an actor, director, or anyone trying to adapt a property as popular asThe Dark Tower, it's both a thrilling and daunting task to bring a world of fiction that's played out solely in the minds of the fans for so long to life. Yet that's what Sony's attempting to do with the Nikolaj Arcel-directed pseudo-sequel to the famous Stephen King series. And it's that attempt that has drawn both Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey to the legendary roles of Roland Deschain and Walter, the Man In Black. Though both men have similar, yet unique reasons for wanting to play in the Stephen King universe. In the case of Idris Elba, Roland presented him with a lot of new opportunities that he just couldn't resist. He explained the pull of The Tower thusly:
What brought me was this opportunity to make something original, something that was definitely going to be an exercise for the imagination of any audience, whether you read the books or not. Getting to play a gunslingin' hero, that was my main one. Outside of wanting to work with Matthew [McConaughey] and Nic [Arcel] and the Sony team, it was really about this page 1 fantastic new idea, new film, new concept, new franchise, new hero.
The pull of the new is always a fantastic lure to bring such topnotch talent like Elba to the world of a franchise like The Dark Tower. When you land a property like this on your desk, and it happens to succeed, it can lead to a lot of rewarding work in the future of your career. It's even better when, like Idris Elba said above, you happen to find a role you really want to play, and being a Gunslinger is something that not only fits Elba's professional aspirations, but it also makes for something rather impressive to draw his fans to the theater.
Matthew McConaughey had a similar reason for wanting to be part of The Dark Tower, as his role of The Man in Black is one that serves a similar purpose. And in sitting with him and Elba during the press junket for The Dark Tower, McConaughey had a very similar explanation as to why he felt the new approach to a new franchise was something he had to get in on.
There are franchises out there, and I've seen them, had some offers, and they were ones that I even liked. But I felt like they were the second or third one, and the characters I was being offered were sort of an amendment to the story, because they'd succeeded earlier. This came across my desk, and I said, 'Oh, this is original, a chance to get in on the ground floor, to have some authorship with the character that I would go play. To get in with Idris, Nikolaj, and Sony, and the creators, and go 'Hey, we're gonna be the first to tell the story. We're gonna be the first to present you The Dark Tower. And if it's a success, we can come back and do another one.
Both Elba and McConaughey seem to be in it for the long haul, as their desire to be part of The Dark Tower franchise also comes with an understanding of the fact that this first film is only the beginning of something spectacular. You can hear it in their voices, as you watch both Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba deliver these explanations themselves, courtesy of our video, below.
Of course, the future of The Dark Tower will depend on how the film does with audiences, as it hits theaters this weekend. If you're curious as to what else is hitting theaters this Friday, or throughout the rest of the year, check out our 2017 theatrical schedule. Otherwise, keep reading us here at CinemaBlend, as we'll be covering The Dark Tower throughout this week.
