With the fate of a massive franchise riding on the shoulders of “The Dark Tower,” you can only imagine how upset Sony Pictures and production company MRC were last month when a leaked trailer started floating around the internet. Despite being barely edited, with unfinished special effects, and a temp track, many were immediately dismissive, weighing in on a movie based on a couple minutes of footage that was far from complete, and presented out of context. But perhaps it made the studio realize they couldn’t rush the job, and so they’re giving the filmmakers some more time to get the movie across the finish line the right way.
Originally slated to open on February 17, 2017 (which is also a pretty crowded weekend with “Fist Fight,” “A Cure For Wellness,” and “The Great Wall” all opening), the film has now been pushed back to an undetermined date in the summer. And the reason is to get the VFX done on a reasonable budget, rather than rushing and paying extra millions to get it finished by February.
“It’s a very fiscally responsible budget, and trying to stay in budget to make money and stay profitable means the VFX won’t be finished in time ” a source told EW. “Now that there’s more time, they’re not paying rush charges to get the effects where they need to be.”
Starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, sequels and a spinoff TV series are all dependent on the success of “The Dark Tower,” so it only behooves Sony to do everything in their power to ensure they create the best movie possible. But it is notable that they’re not just pouring money down a drain but taking a calculated risk, so if it doesn’t work out, no one will lose their shirts. There’s plenty of time to turn the tide of early opinion, and it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out in the months ahead.