Idris Elba Finally Gets 'Luther' Film Moving For BBC/Netflix

It's been over a decade since Luther first lumbered onto the scene with his trademark jacket and red tie. The series that took Idris Elba from "that guy in HBO's The Wire" and turned him into a household name has managed to run five seasons all told, with the final 4 part installment hitting small screens back in 2019. Now it looks like Luther will be back again, though this time in a movie. Netflix, which helped turn the series into a hit in the U.S., has reportedly boarded a new project which will bring DCI John Luther to feature-length films.

Elba has never made a secret of how much he loves playing the character or that he'd like to take the hardboiled British detective from weekly episodic scale to larger budget big-screen features. The idea has been kicking around at the BBC since Season 5 proved a decent ratings draw. In May of 2021, Elba said the project was close to being greenlit and hoped for a September start date for filming. Now, multiple outlets are reporting that Netflix has teamed up with the BBC to make it happen as part of the streaming services' commitment to building out its original feature films library.

More importantly, the project now has a director in place, which suggests that this isn't just rumors and talk. Jamie Payne, who directed the most recent season, has apparently signed on to helm the movie version of Luther's crime-solving adventures. Payne has directed multiple episodes of many PBS viewer favorites previously, from Call The Midwife to Indian Summers and STARZ series The White Queen, The White Princess, and Outlander. According to reports, series creator Neil Cross will once again be penning the scripts, with Cross and Elba acting as executive producers.