The Dark Tower Wants McConaughey: Is He Deschain or Flagg?

With directorNikolaj Arcelset to take the helm, and Sony issuing a January 13, 2017release datefor their highly-anticipated adaptation ofThe Dark Tower, casting is now under way.The WrapandThe Hollywood Reporterare reporting that the studio is eyeingMatthew McConaugheyto star, with the actor being offered two roles, the main character Roland Deschain and the villainous Randall Flagg, a.k.a. The Man in Black.The Wrapclaims that the actor is “leaning” towards the Randall Flagg role, but nothing is confirmed at this time.

Back in 2011, when the project was set up at Universal Pictures,Javier Bardemwas eyed to play Roland Deschain, but the studio ended up dropping the ambitious project just a few months later. The plan was to make a trilogy of movies, with two limited-runTV seriesset to air on NBC in between the films. Warner Bros. was then eyeing the project, but they eventually passed, and the project appeared to be dead, when Sony Pictures picked up the rights back in April. Sony will be teaming with Media Rights Capital to co-finance the movies, with a “complimentary” TV series also being planned. It isn’t clear if the TV series will feature either Roland Deschain or Randall Flagg, or if it will follow secondary characters in this universe.

The Dark Toweris based onStephen King’s series of seven novels, which follows Roland Deschain, a.k.a. The Gunslinger, who sets off on a journey to findThe Dark Tower, which is rumored to be a portal to other worlds. This movie adaptation will be based on the author’s first novel in this series,The Gunslinger, which centers on Roland’s relationship with a young boy named Jake, who is from a different time and place. Randall Flagg is the primary villain in the novels, who tries to stop Roland from reachingThe Dark Tower.

Nikolaj Arcel(A Royal Affair) is directing from a screenplay byAkiva Goldsman(Star Trek Into Darkness) andJeff Pinkner(The Amazing Spider-Man 2), based onStephen King’s novels.Ron Howard, who was initially set to directThe Dark Tower, is now producing alongsideAkiva Goldsman,Brian Grazerand Erica Huggins. It isn’t known when production may begin at this time.

Matthew McConaugheywill next be seen inThe Free State of Jones, which hits theaters on August 25, 2025. It was rumored last year that the actor was locked in for anotherStephen Kingadaptation,The Stand, but his involvement was never confirmed, andThe Dark Toweris farther along in development and will start production beforeThe Stand. Do you thinkMatthew McConaugheyshould play Roland Deschain or Randall Flagg inThe Dark Tower?