Dark Tower Director Explains the Runtime. Director Nikolaj Arcel has explained why his upcoming movie adaptation of Stephen Kings The Dark Tower is only 9. Set to release this summer after years of on again, off again development, The Dark Tower found its home at Sony Pictures, and its director with Arcel. Starring Idris Elba and Matthew Mc. Conaughey, The Dark Tower tells of Roland Elba, the last gunslinger from Mid World, who is on a quest to reach the titular tower before The Man in Black Mc. Xb6UIC9TjoVpczIaCTRENZy45.jpg' alt='Ender`S Game Full Movie' title='Ender`S Game Full Movie' />Conaughey. Kings original body of work has recently been described as his magnum opus, and the story of Rolands quest spans seven very long novels. While Arcel has made it clear from the outset that The Dark Tower movie would only tell part of that story, with another major chunk being saved for a tie in TV series, fans were still very surprised to see the movies runtime listed as 9. Particularly in modern cinema, that is very short for a feature film. However, speaking to Slashfilm at San Diego Comic Con, Arcel explained the method behind what some are perceiving as madness The good news herethe reason why many fans are worried about the run time is that they think we are trying to do everything in this film. Which we are not. This is ideally the first film. A sequel to the Enders Game movie if it happens could be based on an upcoming book written by Orson Scott Card, according to director Gavin Hood. The Tomatometer rating based on the published opinions of hundreds of film and television critics is a trusted measurement of movie and TV programming quality. ZUN48bwOnq8/hqdefault.jpg' alt='Ender`S Game Full Movie' title='Ender`S Game Full Movie' />This is an introduction to the world and the characters. Its not meant to be all the novels and were just trying to cram everything in there. So thats one thing. And the script was really lean and tight. When I got on board, the script was very short, very lean. Thats one of the things that attracted me to it. I said This is smart. You start with a lean, mean story and you dont try to cram everything in there. You just build the basic ideas. Watch Mr. Destiny HIGH Quality Definitons. And if people enjoy it and if they like this world and these characters, we can start expanding. Jake Tom Taylor in The Dark Tower. So, in short, Arcel and Sony are hoping that The Dark Tower spawns multiple sequels. That is certainly more than possible after all, theres a wealth of source material available to draw from. The tie in TV series, set to be directed by Ron Howard, is said to focus on the fourth Dark Tower book, Wizard and Glass, which is almost entirely a flashback to Rolands life as a teenager. Therefore, The Dark Tower story itself, and the ongoing battle between Roland and The Man in Black, is still ready to be continued on the big screen. Missing from this first movie are two other main characters, who both play huge parts in the series of novels. Susannah and Eddie Dean are native New Yorkers, both living at different points in time. Roland brings them both to mid world, to embark upon his quest with him and his young charge, Jake, who is also from New York at a different point in time. Fans were surprised to see them omitted from the list of characters but, should The Dark Tower perform well at the box office, they could well appear in a second movie, or beyond. Of course, that also means that the pressure is now on for Sony and Arcel The Dark Tower has to have done enough to hold audiences interest, and it must still tell a complete story, in order to set the demand for more. Well find out if its done that, in just a couple of weeks. Source Slashfilm. Key Release Dates. The Dark Tower release date Aug 4, 2.