From the darkness of space to ‘The Dark Tower’, Sam Strike has been announced as the lead of Amazon’s new series based on the epic book series by Stephen King. Strike plays Roland Deschain, also known simply as “The Gunslinger,” in what is being described as a more faithful adaptation of the novel than 2017’s film adaptation flop. The series will pick up before the events of the movie and will detail the origin of Deschain– “how he first became a gunslinger and got his guns, his first conflict with the Man in Black, his first love and his first mission as a gunslinger.”
Speaking of the Man in Black, that role has also been cast, with ‘BlacKkKlansman’s heavy Jasper Pääkkönen. It is believed that Roland’s first mission is to kill this character, also known as Marten Broadcloak and Randall Flagg.
Idris Elba portrayed Roland Duschain in the 2017 film, while Matthew McConaughey played the Man in Black, Walter Padick.
The series has been in development at Amazon for over a year. The idea of a TV series was first hatched as a tie-in to the film, but after it bombed, it was retooled into a freestanding entity.
It joins the ‘Lord of the Rings’ series that the service has already ordered two seasons of, in hopes of scoring a ‘Game of Thrones’-sized hit that will play well not just in the US but internationally. With ‘The Dark Tower’, there is certainly enough material to draw from, considering that there are eight huge books in King’s series.
Strike starred on Syfy’s ‘Nightflyers’, an ambitious series based on George R.R. Martin’s novel of the same name. Unfortunately, it didn’t make the waves that Syfy had hoped and was canceled after only one season. Strike has also made appearances on ‘Timeless’ and ‘Mindhunter’ and in the movies ‘Leatherface’ and ‘Monster Party’.
Finnish actor Pääkkönen made a major impression in Spike Lee’s ‘BlacKkKlansman’ and will appear in Lee’s next picture ‘Da 5 Bloods’. He may also be familiar to US audiences for playing Halfdan the Black on ‘Vikings’.
So far, Amazon has only ordered a pilot for ‘The Dark Tower’, but many say that it is very close to placing a series order. Check back for updates!
Source: Deadline
