Idris Elba Confirms That The Luther Movie Is Happening

Idris Elba might be a big name in Hollywood, but there are many strings to the 47 year-old’s bow. As well as being a world-famous actor, he’s also a DJ and musician that founded his own record label, the creator of British sitcom In the Long Run and Netflix’s recently-canceled Turn Up Charlie, made his feature directorial debut with 2018’s Yardie and even won a professional kickboxing fight in 2016.

Despite playing a featured role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the Thor franchise’s Heimdall and starring in box office hits like Prometheus, Pacific Rim, Zootopia, The Jungle Book, Finding Dory, Star Trek Beyond and Hobbs & Shaw, the defining role of Elba’s entire career is still arguably that of Detective Chief Inspector John Luther in the BBC’s acclaimed crime drama Luther.

The show may only be comprised of 20 episodes over five seasons that aired between 2010 and 2019, but Luther has been the subject of almost universal critical acclaim, with Elba winning a Golden Globe in the Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film category for his performance in the second season as well as being nominated for the first, third and fourth.

Luther may have drawn to a close on the small screen following the conclusion of last year’s fifth season, but a movie has long been rumored to be in the works, and in a recent interview, Elba confirmed that after suffering from several false starts, the feature-length outing for the world-weary detective is happening for real this time.

“I’ve maintained I’d like to see it come to a film, and that is where I think we are heading towards, a film. And I’m looking forward to making that happen. It is happening. With film, the sky is the limit. You can be a little bit more bold with the storylines. And a little bit more international, and a little more up the scale. But John Luther is always going to be John Luther.”

This is great news for fans, many of whom thought that the movie might never happen, and if Elba remains committed to ending his time as the character on TV, then a big screen outing is a more than suitable substitute, especially with the possibilities presented by seeing Luther being granted a movie-sized budget for the grand finale.