Matthew McConaughey May Take Lead In Stephen King’s The Dark Tower
Time for an obligatory ‘alright, alright, alright,’ as news breaks on what might be Matthew McConaughey’s next big role. And big is the operative word here.
The superstar actor, whose upward trajectory since ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ and ‘True Detective’ doesn’t show any signs of losing momentum just yet, is said to have been offered a leading role in Sony’s upcoming adaptation of Stephen King’s epic story ‘The Dark Tower.’
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However, on breaking the news The Wrap admit uncertainty as to whether McConaughey is set to take the role of the hero - the gunslinger Roland Deschain - or the villain of the piece, the Man in Black. Subsequent reports claim it is more likely to be the latter.
This is not the first large-scale Stephen King adaptation McConaughey has been linked to of late, the actor having also been courted for another villainous role, Randall Flagg in ‘The Stand,’ which is in development at Warner Bros.
However, The Wrap say McConaughey looks more likely to take ‘the Dark Tower’ as it is further on in its development, and likely to be shot sooner.
That said, if all goes to plan this would by no means be a quick in-and-out job for McConaughey, as ‘The Dark Tower’ - a sprawling, genre-bending narrative which extends over eight novels written by King between 1982 and 2012 - is reportedly intended to be shot as three films, with two seasons of a TV show bridging the gaps between them.
Originally in development at Warner Bros, Ron Howard was previously attached to direct ‘The Dark Tower,’ with Russell Crowe and Javier Bardem both courted for the role of Ronald Deschain.
Howard remains on board as producer alongside Brian Grazer and Erica Huggins, but ‘The Dark Tower’ is now set to be directed by Nikolaj Arcel (’A Royal Affair’) from a screenplay by Akiva Goldsman and Jeff Pinkner.
Picture Credit: HBO, Hodder
