MOVIE NEWS – It was announced during Sony‘s big CinemaCon 2016 presentation that the much-anticipated adaptation of Stephen King‘s The Dark Tower yesterday had begun principle photography. Nikolaj Arcel will direct the film, who is perhaps best acknowledged for such cult films as Fables, Island of Lost Souls, and the drama A Royal Affair. Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey were themselves promoting this epic undertaking.

The Dark Tower is a movie that has long been in development for a very long time, and it’s incredible to see it finally reach the cameras. It seemed to be a forsaken project, as it was supposed to be kicked from one studio to the other. Over the years, there has been tiny progress in seeing the movie get made.

Even when it was announced that Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey will be the two primary actors, fans assumed it was just another jinx in seeing this film undertaking, which is also supposed to have a TV component, come together.

The Dark Tower is the very first in a whole franchise and is believed to be based on Stephen King’s first Gunslinger novel. Still, there has been continual progress on the project in recent months. Idris Elba is acting the titular Gunslinger, Roland Deschain. This time around Matthew McConaughey is playing a villain: he will be the “Man in Black”. Tom Taylor also joins the crew. He acts Jake Chambers, who is a boy from the real world joining the Gunslinger on his mission. The movie comprises a few other important roles, with casting expected to be announced soon.

The Dark Tower has a huge and dedicated fanbase, and this is one of the most ambitious impending movies Sony Pictures currently has on its slate. It has undoubtedly been a big effort to bring it to execution, with multiple approaches on how to tell the story entering the conversation over the years. Ron Howard came closest to getting it made in the past decade, but his version slowly fell apart before it could gain any real momentum, with the gargantuan budget one of the biggest problems in having it move forward.

It is anticipated that The Dark Tower will arrive on screens February 2017. If everything keeps moving as is right now, that will happen. There is no word yet on what types of VFX will be needed to complete this fantasy adventure Western. It is expected to be a CGI extravaganza, and it is entering a relatively short production scheduled. We’ll keep you posted as more news on The Dark Tower breaks in the coming weeks. We might even see the first set photos emerge soon, as Sony appears to be quite excited about this one.