Idris Elba (top left) and Matthew McConaughey (top right) will act opposite each other in "The Dark Tower" (bottom - concept art).

2 Mar – Great news for Stephen King fans as Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey have been confirmed for King's "The Dark Tower" adaptation.

It's official: The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed. #DarkTowerMovie @McConaughey @IdrisElba

- Stephen King (@StephenKing) March 1, 2016

King has been planning a long time to bring his eight-book fantasy series to life and the time has come, as production for the film has just started with Sony Pictures handling the project.

These books have regularly appeared on best-seller lists and have been spun into comics, short stories and even an online game.

A film adaptation however had always been subtle as there were talks involving various studios and leading men, including Russell Crowe and Javier Bardem at one point.

The film that is expected for release in January 2017 will see "Beasts of No Nation" star Idris Elba playing the legendary gunslinger, Roland Deschain, with "Interstellar" star Matthew McConaughey as Randall Flagg a.k.a Man in Black.

Nikolaj Arcel from "A Royal Affair" will direct the film having Akiva Goldsman, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Erica Huggins serving as producers.

King told EW that the film adaptation would cover material from the middle of the book series and will take place in the modern day.

He also added that the first line of the movie will include the popular first line of the book, "The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed."

The story is set in a magical post-apocalyptic Western world where Roland Deschain is the last of a knightly order known as 'gunslingers'. Roland's quest in his dying world is to find a Dark Tower that is the centre of the Universe, but along the way he meets many enemies, including the Man in Black, who is said to be the purest form of evil incarnate.