He’s spent the summer cancelling the apocalypse and bringing Luther back to our TVs. Now Idris Elba has lined up another film project, locking in the lead for Cary Fukunaga’s next project, **Beasts Of No Nation.
The Jane Eyre director has adapted Uzodinma Iweala’s bestseller, which chronicles the journey of Agu, a young boy caught in the middle of civil war in his West African country. Forced to join a unit of mercenary fighters, Agu has to face not only his father’s death but also the disappearance of his mother and sister as he suffers a life of brutality.
His one friend is a mute boy named Strika who helps him bear the hardships. Elba, who will also act as a producer on the film, is set to play a military commander.
It doesn’t sound like an easy subject to tackle on film, but Fukunaga appears confident. “This project has been seven years in the making, so to say I’m excited to start shooting this – and with Idris Elba as lead – would be me trying to play it cool. Red Crown has real moxie standing behind this story.”
Elba will next be seen reprising Heimdall in Thor: The Dark World (out here October 30) before appearing as Nelson Mandela in Long Walk To Freedom, which arrives in the UK on January 3.