Idris Elba claims Bond rumours helped to inspire ‘Luther’ film
The actor ruled himself out of the running to play 007 last week
By Joe Goggins
Idris Elba claims that rumours linking him with the role of James Bond were partially responsible for the upcoming ‘Luther’ film.
Last week, the actor confirmed he wouldn’t be stepping into the part vacated by Daniel Craig after the release of ’No Time to Die’, although he refused to entirely close the door on the prospect.
Now, speaking on the Spotify podcast Who We Be TALKS, the star of ‘The Wire’ and ‘The Suicide Squad’ confirmed that the clamour in some quarters for him to become 007 felt like tacit confirmation that there was an appetite to see him return to a leading role.
In reference to the ‘Luther’ feature film, Elba said: “The writer, Neil Cross, and I had this ambition about four years ago and it really came from those Bond rumours, with everyone wanting to see me in a film in the central position like that.”
“That’s where Neil and I sat down and looked at ‘Luther’ and thought, ‘That could be a sick film if we could make that happen.'”
Elba confirmed that the Netflix movie, based on the hit BBC drama series of the same name, will commence shooting on November 1st. He scooped a Critics’ Choice Television Award, Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his work on the show as DCI John Luther, which ran for five series between 2010 and 2019.
“‘Luther’ has all the ingredients to echo those classic films of the 90s like ‘Seven’ and ‘Along Came A Spider’,” he elaborated.
“I think what we’d like to attempt is use that as a blueprint to create it. It will be more murder, more Volvos, more frowning Luther. Essentially we just want to try and take it to a much bigger remit and scale and perhaps international as well.”
Elba is currently in training for the film, which will also star Cynthia Erivo and Andy Serkis, both as villains. He confirmed he wouldn’t be the next Bond last week on the red carpet at the Opening Gala of the London Film Festival, where his western ‘The Harder They Fall’ screened to aa warm critical response.