The adaptation of Stephen King novel The Dark Tower may not have had the easiest journey to screen and yet the first slice of footage shown to critics has been met by praise.

Since cameras began rolling last year, the fantasy film's production doesn't seem to have been plain sailing with the original release date of February shifted to July and a planned trailer release in October completely dispatched of altogether.

Despite this, anticipation has remained fervent and - according to The Hollywood Reporter - the first footage shown at CinemaCon left the assembled critics feeling hopeful about the outcome of the Nikolaj Arcel film.

The sizzle reel showed off the film's stars Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey who play the Gunslinger Roland Deschain and antagonist The Man in Black, respectively.

The latter is described as “scarily creepy” with one scene shown during the presentation featuring a face-off between the two characters. The moment in question sees Roland fire his weapon at The Man in Black who, in what is described as a slo-mo shot, catches the bullet from behind his back.

Another character glimpsed in the footage is a New York-based young boy named Jake (Tom Taylor) who has dreams of Roland and the titular Dark Tower. In the clip, he is seen exploring an abandoned building where he discovers a portal that takes him to the Gunslinger's world.

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Other films to have dropped footage at Sony's CinemaCon presentation include anticipated sequel Blade Runner 2049 and the Jumanji continuation which has just received a brand new title.