The Dark Tower set photos reveal first look at Stephen King's Mid-World

It's been a long time coming, The Dark Tower. After being bandied about from various studios and networks, the first instalment in a planned series of films recently started shooting in South Africa. As is often the case on high-profile flicks, a bunch of photos from the production have made their way online, courtesy of the film's crew. Check them out below:

The Dark Tower is being touted as the first chapter in a fantasy franchise starring Idris Elba as Roland Deschain and Matthew McConaughey as his adversary, Walter Padick. However, it won't necessarily follow the story chronologically. Where Stephen King's books begin with a tale about Roland - aka The Gunslinger - hunting down the Man In Black, this batch of set photos seem to confirm earlier rumors: the first flick will nab bits and pieces from all over the novels. The cast of characters announced so far have tipped us off to that - and that shot of the twins is another big giveaway. 

How exactly it's all going to slot together is a mystery. There's apparently a TV series in development that will run parallel to the movie's storyline. If that's still the case, it might explain why we've yet to hear of anyone being cast as two of the most important characters after Roland and Walter, Susannah and Eddie. 

Directed by Nikolaj Arcel, and starring Matthew McConaughey, Idris Elba, Jackie Earle Haley, Fran Kranz, Abbey Lee, Katheryn Winnick and Tom Taylor, The Dark Tower opens on February 17, 2017.

Images: StephenKing.com, Chad Waller, Sonia Couto, @jostuarfox, and Francois Grobbelaar