Check out the first photos of Idris Elba as The Gunslinger

Elba is playing the sharpshooting protagonist of the story against Matthew McConaughey, the villain known as the Man in Black. Set for a 2017 release, the film is based on the first book in the The Dark Tower series which is called The Gunslinger. Depending on the success of the first film, it’s possible that more adaptions of the The Dark Tower series could hit the big screen.

Most recently, Elba was one of the voice actors in Disney’s The Jungle Book and also has a starring role in the upcoming action film in the Star Trek series, Star Trek Beyond. He recently did voice work in the animated films Zootopia as well as Pixar’s Finding Dory.

Development of a film in the Dark Tower series has been ongoing for nearly a decade. Back in 2007, Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J. J. Abrams was attached to the film, but backed off due to the large scope of the series. Three years later, director Ron Howard was at the helm and in talks with either Javier Bardem or Viggo Mortensen to play the role currently held by Elba. After production stalled for years, the project was fast tracked by Sony and put into the hands of director Nikolaj Arcel.

You can check out more pictures of Elba in costume as The Gunslinger here.