HIGHJACK is the upcoming, high octane thriller starring and executive produced by SAG Award-winner and Emmy Award-nominee Idris Elba (“Luther”), and created by George Kay (“Lupin,” “Criminal”) and Jim Field Smith (“Criminal,” “Truth Seekers”), who also wrote and lead directed the series respectively.
Told in real time, “Hijack” is a tense thriller that follows the journey of a hijacked plane as it makes its way to London over a seven hour flight, and authorities on the ground scramble for answers. Elba will star as ‘Sam Nelson,’ an accomplished negotiator in the business world who needs to step up and use all his guile to try and save the lives of the passengers — but, his high-risk strategy could be his undoing. Panjabi will play the role of ‘Zahra Gahfoor,’ a counter terrorism officer who is on the ground when the plane is hijacked and becomes part of the investigation. The seven-part series also stars Emmy Award and NAACP Image Award-winner Archie Panjabi (“The Good Wife”), Christine Adams, Max Beesley, Eve Myles, Neil Maskell, Jasper Britton, Harry Michell, Aimee Kelly, Mohamed Elsandel and Ben Miles.
“Hijack” will make its global debut on Apple TV+ with the first two episodes on Wednesday, June 28, 2023.
(Photo/video credit: Apple TV+)
Netflix present the official Trailer for LUTHER: THE FALLEN SUN, with Idris Elba reprising his acclaimed role once again.
About Luther: The Fallen Sun
Director: Jamie Payne
Writer: Neil Cross
Producers: Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, David Ready, Neil Cross, Idris Elba
Executive Producers: Dan Finlay, Brendan Ferguson, Miki Emmerich, Kris Thykier, Priscilla Parish
Cast: Idris Elba, Cynthia Erivo, Andy Serkis, Dermot Crowley
Logline: In Luther: The Fallen Sun — an epic continuation of the award-winning television saga reimagined for film — a gruesome serial killer is terrorising London while brilliant but disgraced detective John Luther (Idris Elba) sits behind bars. Haunted by his failure to capture the cyber psychopath who now taunts him, Luther decides to break out of prison to finish the job by any means necessary. The film also stars Cynthia Erivo, Andy Serkis and Dermot Crowley, who returns as Martin Schenk.
LUTHER: THE FALLEN SUN arrives March 10, 2023 on Netflix.
(Photo/video credit: Netflix)
Universal Pictures Canada x Mr. Will want to give Readers in Toronto and Montreal a chance to attend an Advance Screening of BEAST starring Idris Elba.
Screenings are as follows on Wednesday, August 17, 2022:
Synopsis:
Sometimes the rustle in the bushes actually is a monster.
Idris Elba (Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, The Suicide Squad) stars in a pulse-pounding new thriller about a father and his two teenage daughters who find themselves hunted by a massive rogue lion intent on proving that the savannah has but one apex predator.
Elba plays Dr. Nate Daniels, a recently widowed husband who returns to South Africa, where he first met his wife, on a long-planned trip with their daughters to a game reserve managed by Martin Battles (Sharlto Copley, Russian Doll series, Maleficent), an old family friend and wildlife biologist. But what begins as a journey of healing jolts into a fearsome fight for survival when a lion, a survivor of blood-thirsty poachers who now sees all humans as the enemy, begins stalking them.
Iyana Halley (The Hate U Give, This is Us series) plays Daniels’ 18-year-old daughter, Meredith, and Leah Sava Jeffries (Rel series, Empire series) plays his 13-year-old, Norah.
From visceral, experiential filmmaker Baltasar Kormákur, the director of Everest and Universal Pictures’ 2 Guns and Contraband, Beast is produced by Will Packer, the blockbuster producer of Girls Trip, the Ride Along franchise, and ten movies that have opened No. 1 at the U.S. box office, including Night School, No Good Deed and Think Like a Man, by James Lopez, president of Will Packer Productions, and by Baltasar Kormákur. The film is written by Ryan Engle (Rampage, Non-Stop) from an original story by Jaime Primak Sullivan and is executive produced by Jaime Primak Sullivan and Bernard Bellew.
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Hope you all had a wonderful long weekend! An opportunity for those of you in Toronto and Montreal to see Idris Elba in #BeastMovie.https://t.co/2DqknPxvCh pic.twitter.com/JmwTN7QIk9
— MR. WILL WONG 📸 (@mrwillw) August 2, 2022
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Universal Pictures Canada release BEAST August 19, 2022.
(Photo/video credit: Universal Pictures Canada)
After its Premiere at Cannes, THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING soon will get a release here in Canada.
Synopsis:
A lonely scholar, on a trip to Istanbul, discovers a Djinn who offers her three wishes in exchange for his freedom. Stars Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton, George Miller directs.
Elevation Pictures release THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING in theatres August 31, 2022.
(Photo/video credit: Elevation Pictures)
Idris Elba stars in BEAST! See the brand-new Trailer.
Synopsis:
Sometimes the rustle in the bushes actually is a monster.
Idris Elba (Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, The Suicide Squad) stars in a pulse-pounding new thriller about a father and his two teenage daughters who find themselves hunted by a massive rogue lion intent on proving that the savannah has but one apex predator.
Elba plays Dr. Nate Daniels, a recently widowed husband who returns to South Africa, where he first met his wife, on a long-planned trip with their daughters to a game reserve managed by Martin Battles (Sharlto Copley, Russian Doll series, Maleficent), an old family friend and wildlife biologist. But what begins as a journey of healing jolts into a fearsome fight for survival when a lion, a survivor of blood-thirsty poachers who now sees all humans as the enemy, begins stalking them.
Iyana Halley (The Hate U Give, This is Us series) plays Daniels’ 18-year-old daughter, Meredith, and Leah Sava Jeffries (Rel series, Empire series) plays his 13-year-old, Norah.
From visceral, experiential filmmaker Baltasar Kormákur, the director of Everest and Universal Pictures’ 2 Guns and Contraband, Beast is produced by Will Packer, the blockbuster producer of Girls Trip, the Ride Along franchise, and ten movies that have opened No. 1 at the U.S. box office, including Night School, No Good Deed and Think Like a Man, by James Lopez, president of Will Packer Productions, and by Baltasar Kormákur. The film is written by Ryan Engle (Rampage, Non-Stop) from an original story by Jaime Primak Sullivan and is executive produced by Jaime Primak Sullivan and Bernard Bellew.
Universal Pictures Canada release BEAST in theatres August 19, 2022.
(Photo/video credit: Universal Pictures Canada)
Idris Elba delivers the thrills in upcoming Apple TV+‘s HIJACK, starring-in and also producing the upcoming Series.
Synopsis:
Told in real time, “Hijack” is a tense, thriller that follows the journey of a hijacked plane as it makes its way to London over a seven hour flight, and authorities on the ground scramble for answers. Elba will star as ‘Sam Nelson,’ an accomplished negotiator in the business world who needs to step up and use all his guile to try and save the lives of the passengers — but, his high-risk strategy could be his undoing.
The series is written by George Kay (“Lupin,” “Criminal”) and will be directed by Jim Field Smith (“Criminal,” “The Wrong Mans”), who will both also serve as executive producers alongside Elba, Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta and Kris Thykier. “Hijack” will be produced by 60Forty Films and Idiotlamp Productions in association with Green Door.
More to come.
(Photo credit: Apple TV+/Alex Piper)
An outstanding Cast highlights THE HARDER THEY FALL, coming soon to Netflix. A look at the brand-new Trailer.
Synopsis: When outlaw Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) discovers that his enemy Rufus Buck (Idris Elba) is being released from prison he rounds up his gang to track Rufus down and seek revenge. Those riding with him in this assured, righteously new school Western include his former love Stagecoach Mary (Zazie Beetz), his right and left hand men — hot-tempered Bill Pickett (Edi Gathegi) and fast drawing Jim Beckwourth (R.J. Cyler)—and a surprising adversary-turned-ally. Rufus Buck has his own fearsome crew, including “Treacherous” Trudy Smith (Regina King) and Cherokee Bill (LaKeith Stanfield), and they are not a group that knows how to lose. Directed by Jeymes Samuel, written by Samuel and Boaz Yakin, produced by Shawn Carter, James Lassiter, Lawrence Bender and Jeymes Samuel, and featuring a red hot soundtrack and a stunning all-star cast, including Jonathan Majors, Zazie Beetz, Delroy Lindo, LaKeith Stanfield, Danielle Deadwyler, Edi Gathegi, R.J. Cyler, Damon Wayans Jr., Deon Cole with Regina King and Idris Elba revenge has never been served colder.
THE HARDER THEY FALL is in select theatres October 22, 2021 and on Netflix November 3, 2021.
(Photo/video credit: Netflix)
TIFF ’20 selection CONCRETE COWBOY arrives next month on Netflix! See this new Trailer!
Synopsis:
When fifteen year-old Cole (Caleb McLaughlin) is expelled from school in Detroit, he is sent to North Philadelphia to live with Harp (Idris Elba), his estranged father. Harp finds solace in rehabilitating horses for inner city cowboys at the Fletcher Street Stables, a real-life black urban horsemanship community that has provided a safe haven for the neighborhood residents for more than 100 years. Torn between his growing respect for his father’s community and his reemerging friendship with troubled cousin Smush (Jharrel Jerome), Cole begins to reprioritize his life as the stables themselves are threatened by encroaching gentrification.
Trailer:
CONCRETE COWBOY arrives on Netflix April 2, 2021.
(Photo/video credit: Netflix)
By David Baldwin for Mr. Will Wong
Cole (Caleb McLaughlin from Stranger Things) has been expelled from his Detroit school for fighting. With nowhere else to go, his mother drives him to stay with his Dad, Harp (Idris Elba), for the summer in North Philadelphia. Cole does not really know him, and is not aware that Harp spends his time caring for the horses with other local cowboys at the stables down the street. With few options available, Cole starts working at the stables during the day and spends his nights hanging out with his drug-dealing friend Smush (Emmy-winner Jharrel Jerome).
My central issue with Concrete Cowboy is how exhausting and longwinded it feels. Does Staub want to focus on Harp, his fellow riders and the urban cowboy subculture they are a part of, or does he want to focus on the strained relationship between Harp and Cole? Or should the focus be on Cole and Smush’s friendship and the dangerous path it is leading towards? The Film never seems content enough to settle on one through line, and spends far too much of its 111-minute running time jumping between all three of these Subplots and the assortment of intriguing but underdeveloped characters that populate them. Worse, Staub shoots the Film with handheld, digital cameras and no tripods. So no matter what is happening in the scene, the camera is always shaking and never steady. It is certainly an eclectic choice for a Film like this, but it makes watching it an increasingly frustrating experience.
Concrete Cowboy is an admirable debut feature from Co-Writer/Director Ricky Staub. He tells a story about a subculture few of us were aware of previously, and he strives for authenticity in every frame. The story is personal and his direction reflects that. Elba is not the lead here, but he is just as rock solid and dependable as he always is – and he looks wicked riding a horse (is there anything he cannot do?). McLaughlin holds his own against him and does a great job as the Film’s Lead. He digs down deep into Cole’s psyche, playing into his confused, emotionally fragile state with ease. He is keenly aware of the expectations the audience has of him as a Child Actor in one of their favourite Netflix series and is all too pleased to subvert and flip them around entirely.
As the Credits roll, we are treated to brief talking head clips from the real life cowboys starring in the Film discussing the challenges that urban development and gentrification have created for them. The clips are far too short, but their words are fascinating and illuminating. I found myself immediately much more interested in what was happening, and then really disappointed when they ended so quickly. Why this was not the immediate and only focus of the Film?
CONCRETE COWBOY screens at TIFF ’20 as follows:
Sun, Sep 13
TIFF Bell Lightbox
9:00pm
Mon, Sep 14
Online at Bell Digital Cinema
6:00pm
Sat, Sep 19
TIFF Bell Lightbox
9:00pm
Universal Pictures Canada x Mr. Will want to give Readers a chance to win Advance Passes to see CATS. Screenings take place as follows:
Screenings: Wed. Dec 18
TORONTO // Cineplex Yonge and Dundas @ 7:00PM
VANCOUVER // Scotiabank Theatre Vancouver @ 7:00PM
MONTREAL // Cinema Banque Scotia Montreal @ 7:00PM
CALGARY // Cineplex Odeon Eau Claire Market Cinemas @ 7:00PM
EDMONTON // Scotiabank Theatre Edmonton @ 7:00PM
Synopsis:
Oscar®-winning director Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech, Les Misérables, The Danish Girl) transforms Andrew Lloyd Webber’s record-shattering stage musical into a breakthrough cinematic event.
Cats stars James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, Rebel Wilson and introduces Royal Ballet principal dancer Francesca Hayward in her feature film debut.
Featuring Lloyd Webber’s iconic music and a world-class cast of dancers under the guidance of Tony-winning choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler (Hamilton, In the Heights), the film reimagines the musical for a new generation with spectacular production design, state-of-the-art technology, and dance styles ranging from classical ballet to contemporary, hip-hop to jazz, street dance to tap.
The film also stars Robbie Fairchild (Broadway’s An American in Paris), Laurie Davidson (TNT’s Will), hip-hop dance sensation Les Twins (Larry and Laurent Bourgeois), acclaimed dancer Mette Towley (featured in videos for Rihanna and Pharrell Williams’ N.E.R.D.), Royal Ballet principal dancer Steven McRae, and rising-star singer Bluey Robinson.
Universal Pictures presents a Working Title Films and Amblin Entertainment production, in association with Monumental Pictures and The Really Useful Group. Cats is produced by Debra Hayward, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Tom Hooper. The screenplay is by Lee Hall (Billy Elliot, Rocketman) and Hooper, based on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot and the stage musical by Lloyd Webber. Cats is executive produced by Lloyd Webber, Steven Spielberg, Angela Morrison and Jo Burn.
One of the longest-running shows in West End and Broadway history, the stage musical “Cats” received its world premiere at the New London Theatre in 1981, where it played for 21 years and earned the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Musical. In 1983, the Broadway production became the recipient of seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and ran for an extraordinary 18 years. Since opening in London in 1981, “Cats” has continuously appeared on stage around the globe, to date having played to 81 million people in more than fifty countries and in nineteen languages. It is one of the most successful musicals of all time.
See the Trailer:
Artwork:
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CATS is in theatres Friday, December 20, 2019.
(Photo/video credit: Universal Pictures Canada)
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