Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba are starring in an epic Stephen King sci-fi movie - here's everything we know about it

After nearly a decade of scrapped film and TV plans, Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series is officially hitting the big screen.

In a tweet Tuesday, King confirmed that Idris Elba would be playing the gunslinger and Matthew McConaughey will portray his foe, the man in black.

King began the fantasy/sci-fi series as a senior in college and published the first novel, "The Gunsligner," in 1982.

Thirty-four years later, the series consists of eight novels and spans a number of comic books and short stories.

The series follows gunslinger Roland Deschain on his mission to save a dying world (and other realms) from the threat of the man in black, a sorcerer who often goes by other names including Walter Padick or Walter O'Dim.

Nikolaj Arcel will serve as the director for the film adaptation (for now it's just one film), which is slated for January 13, 2017.