‘The Dark Tower’ Casts ‘Cabin in the Woods’ Star Fran Kranz to Serve the Man in Black

There have certainly been some interesting choices when it comes to The Dark Tower, with characters from later books in the Stephen King series set to appear in the upcoming film — which is being developed as a potential franchise-starter. That’s a little odd, for sure, but the actual casting thus far has been spot-on, and that continues today with the addition of Cabin in the Woods star Fran Kranz.

According to THR, Kranz has been cast in the role of Pimli, described as “the right hand man of the Man in Black,” played by Matthew McConaughey. That’s not entirely faithful to the books, but the casting of Kranz in this particular role feels right. Although described in the books as overweight and balding, Pimli has a certain sniveling attitude that Kranz could really pull off.

Pimli Prentiss appears in the seventh and final book in The Dark Tower series, and is a skilled human who was transported to the world of the titular tower to help oversee the Devar-Toi, a place where humans with special telepathic abilities are held and forced to…well, I don’t want to spoil it. The disappointing part of this news, of course, is that we have yet another character from a later book who is appearing in what will hopefully be the first film in a franchise, so it’s a bit odd that so many elements from the sequels are being introduced.

The Dark Tower also stars Idris Elba as the gunslinger Roland Deschain, with Abbey Lee as Tirana and Jackie Earle Haley as Richard Sayre (two more antagonists), and newcomer Tom Taylor as Jake Chambers. Nikolaj Arcel is directing the highly-anticipated adaptation, which hits theaters on February 17, 2017.