Idris Elba as DCI John Luther in Netflix’s ‘Luther.’
Since 2010, we’ve gotten used to (well, we say “gotten used to”, but we’ve had to put up with ever-bigger gaps between seasons as Elba’s movie career continued to blossom and other work took him elsewhere) seeing Idris Elba stalking the streets of London, talking tough and (mostly) solving cases as Detective Chief Inspector John Luther, a genius investigator whose quick mind somehow can’t figure out his self-destructive tendencies. Your usual tough-nut police leading man, then
But what Elba brings to Luther (in collaboration with creator/writer Neil Cross) has lifted it from the standard tropes and conventions of the genre; not to mention the stalwart supporting cast and the breakout likes of Ruth Wilson as psycho killer Alice Morgan, who haunts and taunts our hero through most of the series, either directly or from the shadows.
The last time we saw John Luther on our TVs was 2019, but for years now, Cross and Elba have talked (or fielded questions) about a potential movie starring Luther, and, thanks to Netflix, it’s finally on its way.
Long in development, ‘Luther’ will see Elba once again donning the overcoat, which will come in even handier than usual as, evidenced by one of the first pictures from the film, Luther’s headed to the snowy climes of some unknown mountains.
“We really peel the onion back here because we had the time and scale to do that,” Elba told Empire recently. “It also gives Neil [Cross] a lot more Luther-land to play with, in terms of where Luther can go, how he goes, what the landscape is.” Literally in the film’s case. “We break out of the gritty streets of London, we take it outside of that a little bit,” Elba explains. “And that’s great. It feels like now we’re entering a different life of the Luther experience.”
Idris Elba as DCI John Luther in Netflix’s ‘Luther.’
The pair was also careful to avoid some of the pitfalls of turning a series into a movie, even with the decent budget that Netflix offered.
“It’s really dangerous when expanding from television to film to throw a lot of money at it, and for that moment to change the characteristics of the show,” Elba says. “I wanted to make sure that even though we had a bigger budget, we didn’t distort the parameters of Luther-land too much. We do amplify the action and do amplify the stakes.”
Jamie Payne, who directed several of the show’s episodes, is behind the camera here, with production kicking off a little over a year ago. But beyond Dermot Crowley returning as Detective Superintendent Schenk, there’s no word yet of whether the regular supporting cast will be back. Still, we can expect to see both Andy Serkis and Cynthia Erivo on screen.
According to Netflix, the movie will land in March next year.
Idris Elba as DCI John Luther on BBC Studios’ ‘Luther.’
