The Dark Tower and Transformers 5 Casts Gain New Recruits

Two big releases, the film adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower and Transformers 5 — one more highly anticipated than the other — continue to build up their casts.

Starring Idris Elba as The Gunslinger, a.k.a. Roland Deschain, and Matthew McConaughey as The Man in Black, The Dark Tower has had a tumultuous development process, but things are finally coming together. Sony recently moved the film from January 2017 to February 2017, and recently added Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen) is one of the latest to join the cast as Sayre, the menacing vampire leader, but today brings word of the addition of newcomer Fran Kranz. According to THR, the Cabin in the Woods actor will take the role of Pimli, The Man in Black’s righthand man.

The story itself centers on the cat-and-mouse game between The Gunslinger and Man in Black — one wants to reach the mysterious Tower at the heart of the fantastical realm of Mid-World, while the other wants to rule over its power for his own selfish means. Still to be cast are the roles of the junkie named Eddie, the amputee Susannah, and the young boy Jake, all of whom are drawn into Mid-World by Roland to help him on his quest.

Elsewhere, while Paramount continues to develop the Hasbro cinematic universe, The Wrap reports the studio has plucked comedian Jerrod Carmichael out of the realm of Neighbors in order to join the realm of the Autobots. The actor will star opposite Mark Wahlberg in Michael Bay’s Transformers 5, which also recently eyed Nickelodeon star Isabela Moner for the female lead. T.J. Miller, an actor known for his comedic/stand-up chops, was the unexpected star of Transformers: Age of Extinction, though he will not be returning for the sequel. Plot details are still scarce, but chances are it’ll at least look spectacular with John Wick cinematographer John Sela on the project.