‘The Dark Tower’ Finds Its Jake Chambers

With the lead roles of Roland Deschain (Idris Elba) and Randall Flagg (Matthew McConaughey) already set, Sony's The Dark Tower has cast another pivotal character. Variety reports that the studio has cast young British actor Tom Taylor for the role of Jake Chambers. The studio held a worldwide casting search for this important role in the adaptation ofStephen King's novel series.

The Dark Tower adaptation will bring Stephen King's series of seven novels to life, which followsRoland Deschain, a.k.a. The Gunslinger, who sets off on a journey to find The Dark Tower, rumored to be a portal to other worlds. Roland will be chased by the Man in Black, a.k.a. Walter Padick, described as an "ageless deceiver and sorcerer," who is also trying to find The Dark Tower to rule over all of its kingdoms. Along his journey, Roland will seek help from a junkie named Eddie, an amputee named Susannah and a young boy named Jake, to be part of his team known as a "ka-tet."

It was originally believed that The Dark Tower will be adapted from the first book, The Gunslinger, but both Stephen King and Nikolaj Arcelwouldn't confirm which books this first movie will be drawn from. There is speculation that the movie may be based on the third book in the series, 1993's The Waste Lands, where much of The Dark Towermythology was laid out. The plot follows the ka-tet's efforts to reach out to Jake, who is from a different place, New York City, and time, which in the book was 1977 but it may be changed to modern-day. Abbey Lee has also been cast as Tirana, but the Eddie and Susannah roles have not been cast at this time.

Nikolaj Arcel (A Royal Affair) is directing from a script he is rewriting with Anders Thomas Jensen (Election Night). Akiva Goldsman and Jeff Pinkner worked on the initial draft. Ron Howard, who was initially set to direct when the project was set up at Universal, is producing alongside his Imagine Entertainment partners Brian Grazer and Erica Huggins. Production is scheduled to begin this spring, with MRC also developing a companion TV series.

Sony has already set a February 17, 2017 release date for The Dark Tower, which will go up against 20th Century Fox's The Maze Runner: The Death Cure and Universal's The Great Wall. This role will be the largest in young Tom Taylor's career, having previously appeared on the U.K. TV shows Doctor Foster and The Last Kingdom, and most recently on TNT's Legends. What do you think about the new Jake Chambers? Chime in with your thoughts, and say tuned for more on The Dark Tower.

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