Idris Elba Is The Dark Tower's Gunslinger?

Deadline are reporting that Idris Elba is the front-runner for the lead role of Roland Deschain in the long-awaited adaptation of Stephen King's magnum opus, The Dark Tower. This news comes following the recent buzz surrounding the actor in regards to a demand for him to succeed Daniel Craig as James Bond. The report states that the decision has been narrowed down to Elba and Javier Bardem, who was rumoured to be attached to previous iterations of the film when it was set up at Warner Bros. Since producer Ron Howard has brought it to Sony Pictures, a new director has been drafted in tunder he guise of Danish director Nikolaj Arcel (A Royal Affair), so the project finally looks to be picking up some steam after years of development hell. The accompanying TV show (allowing for a cross-platform telling of the sizeable tale) is also still on the cards. Where it has previously been reported before that Matthew McConaughey was up for a role, speculation was that he was circling the villainous role of the Man in Black. Deadline are now saying this was accurate, and that negotiations are ongoing. I've never read any of The Dark Tower saga, but with things heating up around this adaptation, it could well be high time I got involved. Are you a fan of the books? What do you make of Elba in the lead role? Sound off in the comments. The Dark Tower currently has a release date of 13 January 2017, but this could shift if Ron Howard and Sony don't get all their ducks in a row.