First Official Trailer Released for Adaptation of Stephen King’s ‘The Dark Tower’

Stephen King fans have been waiting for what seems like forever and the time is finally here! The first official trailer for the film adaptation of The Dark Tower has just been released!

Forget Marvel and DC... There's a new super hero coming to the big screen. His name? Roland Deschain of Gilead and he is the last of his kind. He is the Gunslinger. Roland, played by Idris Elba, follows the beam on his path to save the Dark Tower from the Man in Black. (I would like to pause here to point out that Randall Flagg, also known as the Man in Black, is being played by Matthew McConaughey and that when he speaks in the trailer for the film, I got goosebumps!) The Gunslinger meets a number of interesting creatures and people - some from his world and some from other worlds, like our own. When Roland meets an 11-year old boy named Jake Chambers from our world, they build a unique relationship as they try to save both worlds from the Man in Black. Take a look at the first official trailer for The Dark Tower.

I am going to nerd out for a minute and give you some Gunslinger history. I have been reading Stephen King since I was 10 years old. I was in the 5th grade when I picked up a copy of Cujo and I have been a fan ever since. I have read almost every book King has ever published and when I say almost, I mean there are maybe 5 volumes that I have not read yet.

King released the first of the Dark Tower Series in 1982 with The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger which focuses on introducing us to Roland and we learn of his youth and how he came to be a gunslinger. From there King gave us The Dark Tower II Drawing of the Three in 1987, which introduces the Gunslinger to Jake. In 1991 we were given The Dark Tower IV The Wastelands. I remember this one specifically for a couple of reasons. First being that it introduced us to a monorail train named Blaine that will give you nightmares later anytime you see The Little Engine That Could and second, because I remember exactly where I was when I bought my copy. I was in the 8th grade and was on a trip with the high school marching band to Atlanta, Georgia. The book had just been released and I was dying to get my hands on it. I picked it up in a bookstore in the underground mall at Atlanta's Union Station. King's magnum opus continued 6 years later with Wizard and Glass in 1997, Wolves of the Calla in 2003, Song of Susannah and then The Dark Tower both in 2004, and finally, The Wind Through the Keyhole in 2012.

I have read them all... in total 4,250 pages of creative brilliance. Casual readers of King may not realize that Roland's story crosses over to other works outside of the Dark Tower series. There are far too many to try to list here, but if you are interested in the cross-overs and character ties that King has managed to create in numerous volumes, check out the official Dark Tower Website here. There is nothing like reading through a good book and finding one of King's connections to Roland of Gilead.

Obviously, I don't expect this film to encompass all 4,000+ pages of the Dark Tower story, but I am beyond excited and I cannot wait to see it in theaters August 4, 2017!