Fran Kranz is going from The Cabin in the Woods to The Dark Tower. The Dollhouse star has signed on to play a character by the name of Pimli in Sony Pictures‘ now-filming Stephen King adaptation. This is likely to be a variation on the book’s Pimli Prentiss, although the movie’s version is described by The Hollywood Reporter as being “the right hand man of the Man in Black.”
Fran Kranz joins a cast that includes Idris Elba as Roland Deschain (The Gunslinger), Matthew McConaughey as Randall Flag (The Man in Black), Abbey Lee as the film’s female lead, Tirana, and Tom Taylor as young Jake Chambers.
Director Nikolaj Arcel, who co-wrote the Swedish version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and directed the Academy Award-nominated A Royal Affair, is set to helm the big screen adaptation, set up through Sony Pictures and MRC. Academy Award winner Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind) and Jeff Pinkner (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) have written the screenplay, which is said to be based primarily on the first book in the seven-volume series. There’s also a tie-in television series in development simultaneously.
Ron Howard was initially planning to direct the first film in the series. He is now involved in producing the series through his Imagine Entertainment alongside Brian Grazer and Erica Huggins. Goldsman is also producing through Weed Road with Pinkner set to serve as executive producer.
Fran Kranz can soon be seen headlining Netflix‘s original feature film, Rebirth.
The Dark Tower is currently set for release on January 13, 2017.
