TV Article Matthew McConaughey in early talks for Stephen King's The Dark Tower By Oliver Gettell Oliver Gettell Senior news editor, EW.com EW's editorial guidelines Published on November 16, 2015 12:00PM EST Photo: John Salangsang/AP Matthew McConaughey may ascend The Dark Tower, Sony Pictures’ adaptation of the sprawling fantasy by Stephen King. The Oscar-winning actor is in early talks to play the main villain in the film, directed by Nikolaj Arcel, a person familiar with the project confirmed to EW. King’s epic tale spans multiple books and centers on Roland Deschain, a knightly gunslinger on a quest to find a mythical tower at the center of all space and time and protect it from the forces of evil. McConaughey is eyeing the character known as the Man in Black, a sorcerer who opposes Deschain. Akiva Goldsman and Jeff Pinkner wrote the script. Sony and MRC are co-financing the ambitious adaptation, which has bounced around several studios in recent years. Sony intends to develop the property as a franchise of multiple films and a TV series, with the latter being spearheaded by MRC. McConaughey was last seen on the big screen in Interstellar, and his upcoming films include the mining drama Gold, the Civil War thriller The Free State of Jones, and the animated movies Kubo and the Two Strings and Sing. The Wrap first reported McConaughey’s potential involvement in The Dark Tower, which is scheduled to hit theaters Jan. 13, 2017.