Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey, is rumored to star in the long-awaited big screen adaptation of Stephen King’s self-described “magnum opus”, The Dark Tower. Based on a series of eight novels, the story combines elements of fantasy, sci-fi, westerns and of course, horror, to tell the tale of a gunslinger in search of a mythical tower and the dark forces who seek to destroy it – and all of humanity. Initially, Matthew was cast as hero Roland Deschain, a character inspired by Clint Eastwood’s “man with no name” character from spaghetti westerns like The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, but reports are now hinting that Matthew may take on the role of evil sorcerer The Man in Black. Regardless of what role he takes (or if he takes both), this could be Matthew’s first shot at a franchise.
King fans have had to wait a long time to see the adaptation of this highly popular series of novels. The project was first discussed back in 2007, with director JJ Abrams attached. In 2010, there was talk of a movie and television series for HBO. Both Javier Bardem and Russell Crowe had been in talks to play protagonist Deschain. Sony Pictures is developing the film, directed by Danish director Nikolaj Arcel and written by Jeff Pinkner and Oscar-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman. The first film in the potential franchise covers the events of the first novel in the series, The Gunslinger and has a scheduled release date of January 13, 2017.
The handsome 46-year-old was spotted on Monday, with wife Camila and kids Vida and Levi in tow, in New York while working on his latest project, the mining drama Gold – hence the closely cropped buzz cut. It was also recently announced that Matthew is lending his distinctive Southern drawl to the animated film Sing, voicing a character described as a “dapper koala” named Buster Moon organizing a singing competition to save a vaudeville theater in danger of closing its doors forever. Talk about going from one extreme to another – but we all know Matthew isn’t afraid to take chances in the roles he chooses.
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I still like Matt. He’s kind of unconventionally handsome. I think Matt’s a good choice and he has done horror before.
I think he’d be a great Gunslinger if he channeled his True Detective persona. He kind of blew me away as that character- I felt like all the characters he’d previously played ( excepting Mudd) translated similarly, & had plenty of doubts about his ability- but he was so dark and so good. I’ m looking forward to this, if King doesn’t blow it with poor director choice, as has so often occurred when making the jump from paper to screen.
I think that MM has gotten a little of his sexy back. He looks like he has gained a little much needed weight that he lost for DBC, and I like his short hair. Whatever was going on with his face during his big Oscar campaign seems to have settled. He looks like the MM who spent his days surfing and doing sit ups on the beach in Malibu, living in a deluxe RV, drinking Mic Ultras with Lance Armstrong, and wearing as little clothes as possible.
How are the books? King is hit or miss with me. Does the series require the patience and commitment of something like A Song of Fire and Ice?
I really like King, but I could barely get through the first book and didn’t bother trying any of the others. It just didn’t grab me at all.
The Gunslinger is the weakest book in the series, I thought. I always tell people to continue with it after that one, because it gets SOOOO much better after that one! The Drawing of the Three (book ll) completely hooked me in! This series is my favourite King work, even with the bizarre twist in Book Vl, (it kind of made me laugh; only Stephen King, I swear!) and the ending of the series was annoying to me. I’m hopeful if the movie adaptations of the series continue to its ending that they’ll do something about that ending. Awesome, awesome series, though! Please give it another chance.
Hit or miss with me too, Abot, but I really liked the Dark Tower series. It’s different, he doesn’t go off on so many of his (coke-fueled?) tangents. It’s more simple, more Cormac McCarthy less Robin Williams. If that makes any sense whatsoever.
I’m still holding out for a TV remake of The Stand that doesn’t totally suck bananas.
The books are fantastic! I hesitated to read them due to not being a western fan but King does such a great job mixing genres. It actually ties many stories together. You get glimpses of many characters from other stories. You learn to love the characters and find yourself celebrating their triumphs and hurting at their heartbreaks.
Yup, those books rocked, and personally I think MM is a horrible choice for Roland. That role needs a Charlie Hunnam(sp) or an Aragorn, or sigh, a young Clint Eastwood.
Hubbs raved for ages about them until I picked up the Gunslinger. I hated it and have thus far refused to pick up the second.
It was very vague and very random. I think it’s supposed to give off this illusion of great depth and meaning, but as far as the first book goes, there’s not much there. It seems like everything eventually ties in and makes sense, but I’m not ready to trust a second book yet.
I found the books to be really freaking weird. And I hated Wizard and Glass with a passion. That said, I at least finished the series.
But this whole movie thing? At one point they were going to do a TV series with a movie in the middle. Such a strange production, for a really long and involved and weird story. No. Thanks. I’d much rather see The Stand brought to life for real.
I LOVED the series. It’s the only King I’ve read and I devoured the books. They’re not really horror (IMO), it’s more of an ultra-suspenseful fusion of western and scifi. I’m not really into westerns, at all, but I really enjoyed the books. Some are more intriguing than others in the series and I’ve known several people who hated the first but were hooked from two on. I personally enjoyed the first, but I’m odd 🤓
These are shockingly unflattering pictures of him.
I think the whole weight loss/ weight gain messed up his looks. Or maybe it is just age.
Oh, well. Looks aren’t everything.
I agree. I used to find him very handsome (nothing “unconventional” about his looks back then, IMO), and now he looks strange… Not handsome at all, it’s weird: too much surgery?
ALLL THE HEART EYES for The Dark Tower!! *swoon*
QQ,, you and I are on the same page with this one. The Dark Tower series is one of my most favourite in the whole world. I will die a thousand deaths if they muck it up with bad casting, a la Jack Reacher. It will be roont! It still gives me chills to remember reading the series, and how I sometimes sat up whole nights devouring the pages. Probably a matter of personal taste, but I consider them the best books Stephen King ever wrote.
Oooooh, good choice!
I’ve read the first three or four books. They are long and really weird and complex. It’s about a cowboy from an era bygone looking for the Dark Tower but really weird things happen along the way in his quest. I still don’t know what is so special or ominous about the tower 3-4 books in. The story is not for everyone and while the story takes place in a different world from our own, it intersects with “our world” in very bizarre ways. I go through long stretches between books so I tend to forget what the heck happened in the previous volumes so I go on Wikipedia for a refresher. I will eventually finish the series but one book is usually so dense that I need long breaks from it.
I thought he was going to play Flagg in a remake of The Stand? Never liked The Dark Tower books as a King fan, but if MC is in it, I might see it.
Dear god, NO. He’d make a horrible Roland and an even worse (spoiler alert, maybe?) Randall Flagg. There have been a million starts and stops on various productions of this. The best thing they can do is to not create film or television adaptations of these books. There’s too much, and barring a ten-season long television series, there’s no way they could ever do it justice. And plus, the only actor who could ever do justice to Roland is Clint Eastwood circa 1965, so…no.
For fans of the books: something I WOULD watch is a standalone adaptation of (the bulk of) Wizard and Glass. That could be really spiffy.
I finished Wizard and Glass fairly recently before starting Wolves of the Calla and I found it to be the most difficult to get through for me so far though I am enjoying the eerie return in Wolves.
I wasn’t a fan of Wizard and Glass either. But Wolves at least picked up the pace again, and the story is more cohesive from that point on (you can tell King just randomly worked on the first 4 books over a couple of decades).
Loyal Constant Reader here, so this is great news. I really hope they do the books justice, as so often in the past film adaptations of Kings books have been (at times) terrible. Looking forward to it!
I’d watch him in just about anything.
I am not with this casting at all as a huge fan if the books. He doesn’t scream any if the characters to me, whether it’s Eddie Dean or Randall Flagg. Especially not Roland. I’d rather have an unknown. Plus King is known for picking bad directors for his movies that are somehow always minus some great excrltions bad. Plus this seems like such a difficult series to adapt period with a very niche audience.
I glanced at the pic and for a sec thought it was Nigel from ANTM…lol
He is hosting SNL
Oh nooooooooo!
He can be Randall Flag. Fine. But he’s not Roland.
Jamey Sheridan was the quintessential, and only, Randal Flagg. He played the part to perfection, and will not ever be bettered. No how! Sorry Mr McConaughey, you don’t even come close.
I’ve read most of Stephen King’s books but somehow never got around to the Gunslinger series except for one short novella with the Little Sisters of Eluria (sp?). I liked that one so I’m willing to give them a go.
What a tough call! After seeing MM in “The Dallas Buyers Club”, I can certainly see him as Roland, buuuut, I also think he’d be fantastic as the tittering Man in Black.
I do hope they make this into an epic series on Netflix or some such. It’s too big for movies, and too graphic to be watered down for conventional TV.