It was always a dream: Idris Elba on his film 'Luther: The Fallen Sun'

Idris Elba premiered the first of what he hopes will be a series of ‘Luther’ films recently, taking his hit British television drama to a new audience. In ‘Luther: The Fallen Sun’, a ‘Netflix’ film, he reprises his role as the brilliant but troubled and impulsive Detective Chief Inspector John Luther, the character he played in the award-winning BBC series ‘Luther’ between 2010 and 2019.

Continuing from the show, the movie starts with Luther working on a new case of a missing person, when he is sent to jail over his past tactics. In prison, he is taunted by a serial killer linked to the case. Haunted by his failure to capture the man, Luther breaks out of jail to find him.

“It was always a dream. We started the show. One season; two seasons; oh, they like it; three seasons and then that’s when it started to percolate so that you know what, we can take this to a film,” Elba told ‘Reuters’ at the film’s global premiere in London.

Asked if this could be the start of a series of ‘Luther’ films, Elba said: “Yes, let’s put it out there. I’d like to see it as a series of films for sure.”

Andy Serkis, who plays the killer taunting Luther, shared, “I didn’t want to play this character when I first read it because I just thought I’ve played many dark characters, this is right down the end there.”

“And then I took a step back. Part of the challenge of being an actor is trying to offer a character like this up to an audience and say, ‘Okay, really consider the debate about what this means’. And he represents our folly really; our desire to give so much power to the internet, to technology.”

Series creator and writer Neil Cross said he had to strike a careful balance for fans of the show and new ones: “The biggest trick was how to make one single stand-alone movie that both respected and entertained both audiences equally. That took some work and some thought.”