Entertainment Weekly cover stories are prime real estate and studios know it. It's the reason they get a ton of exclusive access and scoops. So it's a pretty big deal that the Stephen King adaptation The Dark Tower, a strange combination of ambition given the size of King's magnum opus and caution given the film's budget, won the space for the special Comic-Con issue with exclusive first looks. There's been a ton revealed about the February 2017 film from EW in the last few days, so here's your resource for the new info, from beginning to end. For previous reports, check out here and here. The film's budget is $60 million The film begins in Mid-World dramatizing the famous opening line "The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed." South Africa stood in as Mid-World Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba play the man in black, Walter, and the gunslinger, Roland, respectively. Walter destroyed Mid-World and everything Roland had, sending them both on their quests. Walter wants to bring down the Dark Tower, the nexus point of all possible realities by kidnapping psychics who "shine" from various worlds to break the "beams" that hold up the tower. Roland wants revenge. "In the beginning of the story Roland is kind of a lost soul. All he’s thinking about is killing the Man in Black, his arch nemesis," [director Nikolaj] Arcel says. "He’s all about revenge. He’s all about trying to track down this man who has hurt him throughout his entire life. Taken away his friends. Taken away like his father, his mother. Everybody. The love of his life... So this is where we find him. He’s a man blinded by the longing for revenge. That’s where Jake finds him." Roland's famous six-shooters are forged from Excalibur, the legendary sword of King Arthur If the tower ever falls, Walter's master, a mad god called the Crimson King, will return and all dimensions will literally go to Hell. The top pic features Roland before an altar dedicated to the Crimson King, the below features him at the beginning of his quest. Click Next to for more details and photos. The man in black takes a stroll through the Dixie Pig, a den of Taheen, the hidden monsters, vampires and creatures of the world. Needless to say, Walter doesn't think much of his compatriots. "The Devil’s a handsome man,” McConaughey says. “I’ve seen the pale Devil." He shakes his head. "No, no, no. I’ve seen the Nosferatic Devil -- no. I said, ‘Black suit, black coat -- let’s look really sharp.’” Even his spiky hair seems design to impale. "A crow-vibe. We’ve also got some Brian Grazer in there," he says, referring to The Dark Tower producer. "I said hair back, flames back, full face. I wanted to be completely exposed." Jake Chambers (Tom Taylor) has a powerful "shine" that gives him dreams and visions of the Dark Tower, red roses and both Walter and Roland. Unfortunately for him, his "shine" not only lets him see out, but lets others, like Walter, to find him. "Everybody around him thinks he's crazy and he probably even thinks he’s a little bit crazy," says director and co-writer Nikolaj Arcel. "He’s having visions of this big, grand tower that binds everything and holds all the universes together, and he’s having visions of this one man, Roland, the Gunslinger that’s calling out to him." One of the portals between worlds Jake discovers is a "decrepit Brooklyn mansion known as Dutch Hill." The set was rigged by the production team to literally "come alive" upon a person's entrance, with care made to physics. It goes without saying Roland and Jake eventually team up after Jake stumbles into Mid-World, but villains being villains, Walter knows how to torment a nemesis: aim at his heart. Jake and Roland take turns playing "fish-out-of-water" in their respective worlds of New York City and Mid-World. Roland is basically a superhero, with an extended lifespan (200 years, according to Elba), superhuman healing and enhanced reflexes. My favorite image is Roland just riding a train with Jake, after Roland returns with the kid to New York sometime in the second or third act. "The single biggest structural conceit is Jake as the point of entry," he says. "Doesn’t every kid at one point think that the things in the shadows are real? Doesn’t every little boy imagine that there is a world that you can’t quite see?" Goldsman adds. "New York is literally like that. There’s the feeling of a labyrinth behind the face of the city, and I think that’s really consistent with a child’s imagination and the sense of a magical world hiding just beneath the surface." Click Next for more photos The Dark Tower is scheduled for release February 17, 2017. SOURCE: EW