As we reported several months ago, Matthew McConaughey has been sought for the long-in-gestation adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series.
Those rumours seemed to kick into overdrive last night when Josh Boone, who's currently working on the screenplay, took to Twitter to confirm a few rumours and tease out some information. As our report stated, McConaughey was sought for the role of Randall Flagg for an adaptation of The Stand, however a new report suggests that McConaughey is instead being courted for a somewhat similar role in The Dark Tower.
For those who haven't read the series, it won't have a lot of meaning. But for those of us that stuck with it, McConaughey is being sought to play Walter Padick, also known as the Man in Black. Long-time fans of the series will know that Padick also went by the name Randall Flagg and that the character is a sort of interdimensional demon that turns up in almost every Stephen King novel.
Anyway, the report is that McConaughey has the script for The Dark Tower and is currently reading it, so a decision should be forthcoming in the next while. Sony has locked in The Dark Tower for a January 2017 release with director Nikolaj Arcel in the seat previously filled by Ron Howard and (gasp) JJ Abrams.
Arcel's previous effort, A Royal Affair, was well-received in its native Denmark and travelled well overseas, so it's clear he has a talent. Moving from a stuffy period drama, however, to the outlandishness of Stephen King's so-called magnum opus is a big change, but we're guessing Arcel convinced them.
Either that or every other director got fed up waiting for the thing to happen.
Via Variety