Their war. Our world.
Ten years ago, that tagline was attached to the first of Paramount’s live-action Transformers movies, which helped launch one of the most profitable film franchises in cinematic history. Now, almost a decade has passed and Sony Pictures has used the same tagline for its adaptation of The Dark Tower, Stephen King’s undisputed magnum opus about one man’s quest to reach the titular edifice – and the resistance he faces from a certain Walter O’Dim.
On board to bring those famous roles to life are Idris Elba (Roland Deschain/The Gunslinger) and the Oscar-winning Matthew McConaughey (O’Dim/The Man in Black), and today, Sony has rolled out a stunning new international trailer designed to shed light on the transdimensional conflict brewing between Elba and McConaughey’s warring leads. Caught up in the middle of that battle is Tom Taylor’s Jake Chambers, a regular human boy who follows his nightmares and mind-bending premonitions all the way to Mid-World, where he crosses paths with the last remaining Gunslinger.
For generations, Roland and his kind have protected humanity from the coming of the dark, but with the Man in Black planning to destroy the Tower – the nexus of time, essentially – Elba’s roguish anti-hero is left with little choice but to rise up against Walter O’Dim in the name of Mid-World, along with the many realms tethered to the Dark Tower itself.
Director Nikolaj Arcel is behind the lens, presiding over an ensemble cast that also includes Claudia Kim, Fran Kranz, Abbey Lee and Jackie Earle Haley. At least for the time being, Elba and McConaughey continue to be the focal point of Sony’s marketing blitz, and until we have more footage for you to peruse, you can find the film’s official synopsis, below.
There are other worlds than these. Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, the ambitious and expansive story from one of the world’s most celebrated authors, makes its launch to the big screen. The last Gunslinger, Roland Deschain (Idris Elba), has been locked in an eternal battle with Walter O’Dim, also known as the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey), determined to prevent him from toppling the Dark Tower, which holds the universe together. With the fate of the worlds at stake, good and evil will collide in the ultimate battle as only Roland can defend the Tower from the Man in Black.
It’s been a long, meandering road to release, but The Dark Tower is finally beginning to come into view. August 4th is the date for your diaries, but in the meantime, you can share your own thoughts on today’s international trailer via the comments section.
