Strike is cast as Roland Deschain a.k.a. the Gunslinger on the TV adaptation of Stephen King's book series with Paakkonen playing the Man in Black.
- Mar 22, 2019
AceShowbiz - Amazon's "The Dark Tower" has found its Gunslinger and Man in Black. Jasper Paakkonen ("BlacKkKlansman") and Sam Strike ("Nightflyers") have reportedly been tapped to play the Man in Black and the Gunslinger respectively.
According to Deadline, which first reported the news, Strike is cast as Roland Deschain a.k.a. the Gunslinger on the TV adaptation of Stephen King's book series. He is joined by Paakkonen, who is set to play the Man in Black, who is also known as Marten Broadcloak and Randall Flagg.
Paakkkonen recently appeared in Oscar-winning movie "BlacKkKlansman" and is set to reunite with director Spike Lee in "Da 5 Bloods". He also starred on History's "Vikings" and Finnish films like "Heart of a Lion", "Frozen Land" and "Bad Boys".
As for Strike, he starred on Syfy's "Nightflyers" which was based on George R.R. Martin's novella. His credits also include "Mindhunter", "Timeless" and "EastEnders". The actor will next appear on HBO's "Chernobyl".
The site further revealed that the project is nearing a formal pilot order at the streaming platform. However, Amazon declined to comment on the report.
It is said that the project, which is produced by Media Rights Capital (MRC), will follow the story of how Roland became a gunslinger and his first encounter with the villainous Man in Black. The TV series is also said to be a more faithful retelling of the book than the Idris Elba-starring movie, which premiered in 2017. Anothing thing that sets the Amazon reitaration different from the movie is the time setting. The TV series is set to take place years before the events that played out in the Nikolaj Arcel-directed flick.
Glen Mazzara executive produces the TV adaptation in addition to serving as showrunner. "I've been a Stephen King fan for decades, and the opportunity to adapt 'The Dark Tower' as a TV series is a great honor," he said in 2017. "The events of 'The Gunslinger', 'Wizard and Glass', 'The Wind Through the Keyhole', and other tales need a long format to capture the complexity of Roland’s coming of age -- how he became the Gunslinger, how Walter became the Man in Black, and how their rivalry cost Roland everything and everyone he ever loved."
"I could not be more excited to tell this story. It feels like being given the key to a treasure chest. And oh yeah, we'll have billy-bumblers!" he added.
