The first Dark Tower trailer is out of this Mid-World (and comes with a Shining Easter egg)

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It’s the moment Stephen King fans have been waiting a long, long time for. The Dark Tower has finally made it to the big screen – and it promises not to disappoint. Watch the trailer for the movie, starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, above. Epic is thrown around a lot but this is capital-E Epic. Get ready for some gunslingin’.

Unlike most modern trailers, it doesn’t give the game away too much, while still leaving plenty of time to admire Idris Elba’s character Roland Deschain’s ridiculously awesome gun-toting and the nefarious presence of Matthew McConaughey. It certainly proves that the first reactions to the trailer weren’t far wrong.

The movie’s poster highlights the two worlds – ours and Mid-World – which are wrapped up in the fate of the titular Dark Tower. Basically: if The Dark Tower goes bye bye, everything else goes bye bye. So, yeah, there’s a lot at stake.

Elba and McConaughey have even got in on the promotional act, swapping two moody, atmosphere-laden teasers for the movie (hitting August 4) on Twitter before the trailer was released. Who knew you could fit that much cool into 15 seconds?

Except these character posters are somehow even cooler.

There are even references to some of King's other universes thrown in for good measure - proving there's no such thing as too much of a good thing. Here's The Overlook Hotel - aka the hotel from The Shining just hanging around in the background of a shot from the trailer because, why the hell not?

Does the trailer live up to your expectations? And, for the non-King fans, does the trailer make you want to go and see it? Sound off in the comments!

Image: Columbia

Bradley Russell
Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.