Matthew McConaughey

With movies seemingly getting longer by the second after Michael Bay and his ilk ushered in a new and exhausting runtime era, lights in the bloated darkness can come from the most unexpected of places. The Dark Tower, for example, is only 95 minutes long — for those of you who, like me, don’t understand what that means unless it’s in hours, that equates to an hour and 35 minutes. Which is less than two hours!

The world approaches a great cataclysm in the latest trailer for the upcoming adaptation of Stephen King’s fantasy novel The Dark Tower, but the specific nature of that cosmic upheaval, I know not what. Not having read the source novel, I’ve decided to go into the film cold when it premieres on August 4, and so far, I’ve done a pretty solid job of keeping myself unsullied by plot revelations. The new international trailer does me a favor, too, by playing all of its details of plot close to the vest. There’s a whole lot of ominous talking, stars Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey appear to have some manner of beef that could decide the fate of the known universe, but beyond that, I’m in the dark (tower).

By this point in a big film’s marketing cycle, we typically would have seen a couple trailers, a ton of posters, lengthy magazine pieces, the works. In contrast, there has been so little concrete info out there on The Dark Tower, which opens in theaters in almost exactly three months, that some people (like, y’know, me) began to doubt whether the movie would open on time, or even if it existed at all.

If you read our summer movie preview yesterday you might have seen The Dark Tower on our list and thought, ‘Wait, what?! That’s coming out in August?’ Yes, your eyeballs will finally see the long awaited Stephen King adaptation in just three months, but the average moviegoer wouldn’t know it from the complete lack of marketing. We haven’t even seen a trailer yet, and last month the release was pushed back a week. But now, finally, we have officially confirmation of the trailer’s arrival.

While decades of film journalism has taught us to treat Hollywood insiders as the sole source of movie rumors, there are plenty of places to go for production updates if you know where to look. Movie studios are businesses, after all, and business have to do things like file for copyrights, pull permits, and, sometimes, submit films and trailers to government agencies for review. That’s how we are able to bring you today’s update on the long-anticipated trailer for Columbia Pictures’ The Dark Tower adaptation. It didn’t come from some studio executive sending text messages on the sly; it came from the Consumer Protection agency of British Columbia.

The McConaissance is still upon us, and Matthew McConaughey is in high demand. He almost had a role in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but instead opted for the movie adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower. With the Guardians sequel poised to rake in the billions, why take a chance on a franchise-starter that might not have the same box office heft? McConaughey explained that he chose it for just that reason, and because he didn’t want to join a franchise as an afterthought.

HBO seems to have bounced back from its string of disappointments with Westworld, but don’t expect True Detective to be granted another shot just yet. If it is, at least Season 1 star Matthew McConaughey is all-in to return for another round with creator Nic Pizzolatto.

Between the famous Back Home Ballers + Adam Sandler's one-of-a-kind jingle, you really can't go wrong.

Since establishing himself as a worthy dramatic actor, Matthew McConaughey has had a career out of characters in deep introspection, men questioning the meaning and mysteries of the world around them. He did it best with Rust Cohle, he did it again with Cooper in Interstellar, he did it in those Lincoln commercials, and there were hints of it in ‘Free State of Jones.’ And now McConaughey is on another spiritual journey, this time in a forest.

Ready for even more new photos and details from The Dark Tower? Good, because we have plenty. In addition to yesterday’s sneak peeks and exciting intel on the long-awaited adaptation, we have a handful of new photos featuring Idris Elba’s Gunslinger and his young companion Jake Chambers, played by newcomer Tom Taylor. The pics also give us a good look at Mid-World, the world beyond our own where the titular tower stands and an epic journey awaits.