“I do not kill with my gun. I kill with my heart.”
Those are the words of Roland Deschain aka The Gunslinger (Idris Elba) and the central protagonist of Stephen King’s famed Dark Tower series. The post-apocalyptic tale The Dark Tower is the initial entry (though this adaptation supposedly pulls themes and story threads from the entire series) and tells the story of Roland’s search for the mysterious tower, which is the nexus of all universes. His adversary is Walter O’Dim aka The Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey) and with whom tries to take down the tower.
Caught in the battle of good-vs-evil is young Jake Chambers (Tom Taylor) whose earthly visions of the Gunslinger turn out not to be the stuff of dreams.
The trailer allows Elba to wax eloquently in voice-over fashion acknowledging that he does not aim with his hand. That may be true, but he can re-load his pair of guns impressively as the chamber spins.
The Dark Tower comes from Nikolaj Arcel, who previously directed A Royal Affair. He co-wrote the adaptation along with Akiva Goldsman, Jeff Pinker, and Thomas Jensen. The film will arrive in offshore theaters on July 27th. Its American release occurs August 4th.
Watch the trailer and see if you can spot references to other Stephen King novels. The exterior of a certain lodge in Oregon, perhaps.
