<P> On April 10, 2015, it was announced that Sony Pictures Entertainment with MRC were fast - tracking the project, now with a completely reworked script by Goldsman and Jeff Pinkner . King appeared optimistic, saying: "I'm excited that The Dark Tower is finally going to appear on the screen ." Howard appeared to be out as director, but would remain in a producing capacity . By June 2, 2015, Sony was looking to Nikolaj Arcel to direct . Arcel officially signed on July 10, 2015, with him and Anders Thomas Jensen rewriting the script . On August 5, 2015, Sony Pictures Entertainment set the film for a release of January 13, 2017 . By November 2015, Matthew McConaughey had been offered the role of the Man in Black (also known as Randall Flagg from The Stand, another role McConaughey had been offered in an upcoming adaptation). In January 2016, it was officially announced that Idris Elba has been cast to play Roland Deschain . </P> <P> By February 18, 2016, Abbey Lee had been offered the role of Tirana . On March 1, 2016, Entertainment Weekly confirmed the casting of Idris Elba as Roland and Matthew McConaughey as The Man in Black, with shooting set to begin in South Africa in April . On March 5, Sony announced that the film would move back on the schedule from January 13 to February 17 . By March 10, 2016, Tom Taylor had been cast as Jake Chambers . Filming began on April 12, 2016 . Abbey Lee, Jackie Earle Haley, and Fran Kranz were added to the cast when filming commenced, while Katheryn Winnick and Michael Barbieri joined the film at the end of April 2016, and Claudia Kim was cast as Arra Champignon in May 2016 . After poor initial test screenings, Sony contemplated replacing Arcel with "a more experienced filmmaker," but instead producers Ron Howard and Akiva Goldsman advised Arcel on cleaning up the music and narrative of the film . </P> <P> The Dark Tower began filming in South Africa in April 2016 . The film also shot scenes in New York . In October 2016, the film was screened to test audiences with negative results, with many labeling it confusing and messy . In response, Sony and MRC spent $6 million on reshoots to provide Deschain's backstory . </P> <P> Originally, the film was scheduled to be released on January 13, 2017 and was pushed back from its original release date of January 13, 2017 to February 17, 2017 . In November 2016, the film was pushed back again from February 17, 2017 to July 28, 2017, after the studio's Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was moved from that date . In late March 2017, the film was pushed back one week from July 28, 2017 to August 4, 2017, switching places with Sony Pictures Animation's The Emoji Movie . </P>

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