Stephen King’s The Dark Tower is delayed

Sony Pictures’ The Dark Tower has hit a stumbling block.

The film adaptation of Stephen King’s fantasy adventure was originally set to hit theaters on Feb. 17, but has now been postponed.

According to EW, The Dark Tower will now shift to next summer with no specific date confirmed yet.

The movie tells the story of gunslinger Roland Deschain (Idris Elba) who roams an Old West-like landscape in search of the dark tower, in the hopes that reaching it will preserve his dying world.

Shooting on the film did wrap on schedule in July, however sources say the delay is due to post-production not being possible to finish in the timeframe. Sony Pictures and production company MRC need deadline extensions on the visual effects, as well as more lead-up to promote the movie.

Last month, an early draft of the trailer was leaked and featured mostly rough visual effects. With a budget of just $60 million, the decision was made to delay the project, rather then spend more on getting it out on schedule:

 “It’s a very fiscally responsible budget, and trying to stay in budget to make money and stay profitable means the VFX won’t be finished in time [for February],”

“Now that there’s more time, they’re not paying rush charges to get the effects where they need to be.” a source told EW.

A new release date is expected to be announced soon.