Idris Elba’s ‘Luther’ Gets A Movie Prequel

Luther creator Neil Cross said he is hoping to get a movie version made next year, having written a script for a prequel.

“Idris [Elba] is a brilliant leading man and we’ve hoped to turn Luther into a movie for a long time,” Cross said at the Edinburgh TV Festival. “It will follow his career in the earlier days, when he is still married to Zoe (Indira Varma), and the final scene in the film is the first of the initial TV series.”

Cross has already written a prequel novel, Luther: The Calling, which focuses on a case involving a child killer and ends with Luther being suspended for seven months.

Cross admitted that the TV series is “finished” because Elba had “gone on to be a big movie star.” Since Luther premiered in 2010, Elba has appeared in Thor (and its upcoming sequel, Thor: The Dark World), Prometheus, and Pacific Rim. He’ll also be playing Nelson Mandela in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, which is set to be released November 29.

Cross gushed over his star and his portrayal of the former South African president.

“Because I love Idris, I think, ‘Oh my God, you’re playing Mandela. That’s such a big thing. Oh Christ, I hope it goes well.’ But I watched the trailer a couple of weeks ago and it’s astonishing,” Cross said.

“He’s a great actor – because he’s so beautiful and charismatic and because he commands the screen so singularly, people forget he’s a f**king astonishing actor,” Cross added. “I can’t think of a more high profile, risky role to play than Mandela. He’s owned it.”

Idris Elba won a Golden Globe for best actor in a miniseries for his role as Luther in 2012. He was also nominated in 2010 and 2011.

Luther‘s four-episode third and final season ran from July 2 to July 23, 2013. The third season will make its US premiere Tuesday on BBC America.