Idris Elba wants to make Luther a James Bond-style franchise

Idris Elba is wanting to transform Luther, the immensely successful psychological crime thriller series wherein he stars as the titular detective, into a franchise worthy of toppling the box office order. Given the fact that the show has gathered 11 Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Elba's acting, creator Neil Cross' writing and its cinematography, I don't think it's a tall order.

Unfortunately, the sixth season was canned, however Luther: The Fallen Sun is on its way to Netflix after almost six years of development. Starring Elba as DCI John Luther and Dermot Crowley as DSU Martin Schenk, Andy Serkis takes a villainous turn as a billionaire with very vague morals on the topic of technological surveillance. I admit, I've not seen a single episode of Luther, but I am sold on The Fallen Sun's pitch. And for the super fans out there, it's possible that the film will be the start of something significant.

Elba appears in Cyberpunk 2077's upcoming DLC - check out the trailer below!

"It’s not a competition, but I reference Bond as a template for the type of film we’re going for," explained Elba in an interview with Total Film (thanks, games radar). "John is a leading character in a film that he’s the hero of. That’s the comparison I’m making. Some films do them well - Bond is one of them."

"But my ambition for it is to have that sort of scale, that reverence. I want people to be like: 'Ooh! Luther, the first film? Wicked.' And to continue that. And then maybe later down the line, when I’m too old, someone else will step in to play John."

Not only is the actor interested in boosting the cultural currency of the character with this new film, there are even grander ambitions knocking about in his noggin. "We’re desperate to take Luther out of Luther-land, and put him in the big world. I think that’s a really important characteristic of scale and growth in our films. I mean, can you just imagine John in Colombia, or darkest Berlin where it’s really weird and underground?" theorised Elba. I'd watch both.