The Dark Tower movie is set for a 2017 release, and the author of the book series, Stephen King, has said that he thinks Idris Elba, who is set to play Roland the Gunslinger, is “one of the best actors” working today.

Stephen King sung the actor’s praises in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. The prestigious author talked about Elba and his co-star Matthew McConaughey and how he’s looking forward to seeing the two go up against each other in The Dark Tower movie.

“I think [Elba’s] a terrific actor, I think he’s one of the best actors working in the business now,” he said. “And Matthew McConaughey is a terffic actor. They’re both great. And the idea of seeing the two of them in opposition of each other is very exciting to me.”

The film’s director and co-writer Nikolaj Arcel added to the praise, saying he’s been a fan of Elba’s since watching him in The Wire.

“I’ve been following his career for a long time and then when we started talking about him as Roland, for me it just clicked,” Arcel said. “I met him, we spoke, we had some great conversations. For me, it was sort of, like, a no brainer.

“Any time I see Idris in anything, he’s sort of this magnetic figure for me, I’ve always loved him,” he added.

In the interview, King also confirmed when the movie will start in the books’ timeline.

“The movie will start where the books start. The Man in Black fled across the desert and the Gunslinger followed,” King said. “I’ve been pretty insistent about that and I think everybody’s on board with it.”

King also mentioned that the movie won’t adapt the first book’s story, instead starting in the middle. What this means in relation to the previous quote isn’t completely clear. GameSpot will keep you up to date on The Dark Tower film as more information is revealed.

For now, you can check out on-set images of Elba as the Gunslinger right here.