CAPE TOWN-based Moonlighting Film Production Services is set to work on the upcoming film adaptation of author Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey.
The film, set for release next year, is listed as “in production” on Moonlighting’s website, although it is still not clear where in the country it will be filmed.
Moonlighting, which has its offices in Observatory, has regularly worked with big-name foreign productions, including Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, the fourth season of the spy thriller Homeland, and the Sean Penn-directed The Last Face.
Earlier this week in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, King and director Nikolaj Arcel confirmed the film would be shot in South Africa in seven weeks’ time.
King later shared the news with his Twitter followers, posting: “It’s official: the man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed.”
The quote is the opening line from The Gunslinger, the first book in The Dark Tower series, which was published in 1982.
He has written seven more books in the series, with the latest, The Wind Through the Keyhole, published in 2012.
Elba is set to star as series protagonist Roland Deschain – or the gunslinger, while McConaughey will play the Man in Black, who tries to stop him reaching the dark tower.
The two Hollywood stars had fun on Twitter following the announcement.
“You have one new follower,” Elba posted, tagging Oscar-winner McConaughey.
“Come and get me, I look forward to it,” McConaughey replied.
Weekend Argus