<P> On March 13, 2012, it was reported that Warner Bros. Pictures was now interested in making at least the first film and that Russell Crowe, tipped to play Roland Deschain, was no longer on board . Reports indicated that filming might have commenced as early as the first quarter of 2013 . However, Warner eventually passed on the film . Later, on April 10, 2015, it was reported that Sony Pictures and Media Rights Capital would be going ahead with the first film in the series alongside a television series, using a reworked script by Akiva Goldsman, who worked on the initial 2010 proposal, and Jeff Pinkner . On June 2, 2015, Nikolaj Arcel was hired by the studio to direct the film . On March 1, 2016, it was announced that Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey had both joined the film, cast respectively as Roland Deschain and Walter O'Dim . On May 3, 2017, the first official trailer was released. The film was released on August 4 . 2017 . Critics panned the film with it receiving a score of 18% on Rotten Tomatoes . The film combines elements from several novels in The Dark Tower series, serving as a canonical sequel to the novel series, which concluded with the revelation that Roland's quest was a cyclical time loop; the presence of the Horn of Eld, which Roland carries in the film, indicates that this is the next cycle; Stephen King has indicated that The Dark Tower film and television series will follow Roland's "last time round" to the titular Dark Tower . </P> <P> In an interview with Collider, Stephen King expressed hope for a sequel film in addition to the upcoming television series, suggesting that it should be R - rated, with Roland wearing a hat, and that it would include the "lobstrosities" from The Drawing of the Three . In an interview with ComingSoon.net, Nikolaj Arcel confirmed that The Drawing of the Three would form the basis for the sequel, and that yet - to - be-cast actors who will play Eddie and Susannah Dean would appear alongside Elba, McConaughey, Taylor, and Haley reprising their roles as Roland, Walter, Jake and Sayre respectively . </P> <P> Currently there exist four audio versions of The Dark Tower series--in English, in German, in French and in Russian . The audio book in English published by Hodder & Stoughton features voices of George Guidall and Frank Muller and has neither music nor sound effects . The audio book in German published by Deutschland Random House Audio introduces Vittorio Alfieri and David Nathan as the narrators . In French audiobooks published by Éditions Gallimard and narrated by Jacques Frantz . </P> <P> In Russian, The Gunslinger, as narrated by Igor Knyazev, does not have any music or sound effects . </P>

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