If, like us, you’re a big fan of Idris Elba, then we’re afraid we have some bad news to report: it appears he’s dropped out of the running to replace Morgan Freeman as the face of James Patterson’s detective Alex Cross. And the man who is taking over the role is one that could raise a few eyebrows – Tyler Perry.
Yes, the man better known for appearing as loudmouth lady Madea and directing/writing/ producing films and building a movie empire is making a real switch to action drama to play the ‘tec/psychologist.
To keep those eyebrows going up, Rob Cohen has jumped aboard to direct the movie, which means that David Twohy, who had been attached to re-write and direct the film, is also out.
Kerry Williamson and Patterson himself wrote the original draft of the script, which Along Came a Spider’s Marc Moss is now busily re-writing. The new outing is currently called I, Alex Cross, and there's no word on whether it'll still follow the story of the conflicted lawman trying to return to private psychology practice but getting drawn back into criminal cases.
QED International is currently seeking a distributor to partner up with, but Cohen is pushing ahead, with shooting set for June.
Tyler Perry as Alex Cross. Can you see it? Would you have preferred Elba?