After decades of discussions and false starts, it does seem as if Stephen King’s epic seven book series The Dark Tower is heading for the screen, with Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey in the lead roles of the Gunslinger and the Man in Black.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, it was confirmed that Nikolaj Arcel will start directing the movie in South Africa in seven weeks time (the end of April 2016) with Sony planning to release it on January 13, 2017.

“It’s official: The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed. #DarkTowerMovie @McConaughey @IdrisElba” King tweeted on March 1st. However it’s clear that the first book of the series won’t be the basis for this movie – Arcel has noted that much of the movie takes place in the modern world, something the series doesn’t tackle until quite some way in. However with the potential of a cable TV series as well as further films, there’s plenty of time for that confrontation.

“Other people have tried fantasy spectacle. Sometimes it works, sometimes it works really well when it’s based on a series of books, like The Hunger Games or Harry Potter, and sometimes it doesn’t,” King told EW. “What I have to go back to is this: We have Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, two great actors. You’ve got a great production team and Akiva Goldsman as the primary script writer. The team is in place, so we’ll hope for the best.”