The
Dark Tower opening in South Africa on September 8, 2017,
features power-packed performances from Idris Elba and Mathew McConaughey, as
well as, several talented South African actors.
Sony Pictures Releasing International
confirmed that “Part of the film was shot on location in South Africa, which
offered unique landscapes and awe-inspiring forests for the alternate
dimension.
The production took the company to such
remote places as the barren Karoo desert, where they built the Mid-World sets.
To add a further layer of a parallel universe, the company moved to the
Cederberg mountain range, where the protected nature reserve features dramatic
caves and characteristic red rocks.”
Said production designer Christopher Glass,
“Mid-World is a sort of a wasteland, yet not quite. There are a lot of remnants
of an ancient civilization that are scattered around this place; weirdly, the
civilization is a future civilization that has now become ancient. In South Africa, we found otherworldly
deserts – it was almost like being on Mars. The horizon just kept going; I’ve
never seen anything like that before. I think that there’s a romance and a
certain sense of adventure that goes into filming in Africa.”
Other South African locations used included
a wine farm area just outside Cape Town, where filmmakers built a village and an
abandoned shopping mall in Cape Town, which was transformed into a seedy Bar
for a key sequence in the film.
Over 30 local actors got the opportunity to
showcase their talents alongside their Hollywood counterparts. These included
Leeanda Reddy, Lemogang Tshipa, Mary Twala and Robert Whitehead, amongst
others.
Whilst not a direct adaptation of the
books, the movie serves to introduce the main characters to a broad audience in
a thrilling, action-packed adventure.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hru0ztC1FYk&feature=youtube
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