Idris Elba, who stars as the detective John Luther, confirms that Netflix’s Luther movie continuing the hit BBC series has finished production.
Idris Elba confirms the Luther movie has completed filming. Premiering in 2010, the BBC series of the same name stars the English actor as the dedicated detective John Luther who makes cases against criminals and develops a complicated relationship with the brilliant psychopath and murderer Alice Morgan (played by Ruth Wilson). Luther ran for a total of 5 seasons consisting of 20 episodes, garnering plenty of critical acclaim in the process, mostly for Elba’s performance as Luther, which won him numerous awards, including a Golden Globe.
Talks of a Luther movie began early as 2012, though it didn’t start filming until November 2021. Luther creator Neil Cross wrote the script for the film while Jamie Payne, who helmed season 5 of the show, has come onboard to direct. The movie also introduces new characters not seen in the show, including Lord of the Rings star Andy Serkis as the villain and Academy Award-nominated actress Cynthia Erivo as a rival detective. Now, more good news has arrived for the Luther movie.
Elba has confirmed that the Luther movie has wrapped filming. The actor revealed the news during an interview on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show while he was promoting his most recent project, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, in which he voices Knuckles. Elba says he finished filming about three weeks ago and it was a “grim shoot” considering the dark nature of the morally ambiguous detective. Read what he shared below:
I finished filming like about three weeks ago. It was a grim shoot. Oh my gosh. It’s all fun and games as I’m reading the script. I’m like, “And then he does what? Oh wow this is incredible,” and then I’m actually doing it. I find myself freezing in some dark cave or something.
During the interview, Elba also confirmed the Luther movie picks up after season 5 which saw his titular character placed in handcuffs. Elba also says that audiences who are unfamiliar with the events of the show or have no idea who Luther is will still be able to enjoy the film since it tells a standalone story. The movie will be released on Netflix and, considering the streaming service’s vast subscriber base, many viewers will likely go into it without having seen the BBC series. When that will be remains unclear, as the Luther movie does not yet have a release date, though the second half of this year would be a safe bet.
Elba’s career has come a long way in a short time since he last played Luther in 2019, having since starred as the villain Brixton in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw and as Bloodsport in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, he is now one of the more highly sought-after actors working today. It should be entertaining to see him sink back into one of his more critically-acclaimed roles as the brooding detective. If nothing else, the Luther movie should reignite interest in seeing Elba play James Bond, as the BBC series has done for years.
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