The film adaptation of Stephen King's magnum opus book series, "The Dark Tower," has commenced filming. A wild combination of science fiction, horror and fantasy, "The Dark Tower" is one of King's hugely popular and acclaimed works, with the film starring Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba in the lead roles.

The filming update was announced at CinemaCon in Las Vegas last week and King himself posted on Twitter to celebrate the start of principal photography, letting his fans and followers know that the much-awaited film adaptation of his epic sci-fi novel, has officially kicked off, SlashFilm reported.

THE DARK TOWER movie is filming; IT begins soon. Pretty cool. â€” Stephen King (@StephenKing) April 13, 2016

Elba plays Roland â€” the last Gunslinger, a weary cowboy/knight who crosses a post-apocalyptic landscape (and eventually other dimensions) as part of his quest to reach the Dark Tower, the nexus of all possible worlds. McConaughey plays Roland's enemy and the mysterious Man in Black, otherwise known as Walter Padick, Randall Flagg, or countless other aliases.

MTV spoke to McConaughey at CinemaCon, where he explained why he was attracted to a character like the Man in Black. "I'm not a big sci-fi buff... this one came along, though. The man in black, I looked at that and said, 'Oh, I can be whoever I want to be in this one.' I'm not sure who I'm going to be yet."

"The Dark Tower" will incorporate elements of the first three books in King's series and is slated to release on Feb. 17, 2017. Meanwhile, with filming underway, fans can probably expect to see the first teaser trailer at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con.