After cancelling the apocalypse earlier this year in Guillermo del Toro’s action extravaganza Pacific Rim, and playing a key supporting part in this month’s Thor: The Dark World, British thesp Idris Elba is gearing up for another action-oriented role. The actor just signed on to star as a U.S. operative at the center of a French terrorist attack in the thriller Bastille Day.
In the film, Elba’s character is ordered to interrogate a young American boy, who’s suspected of masterminding a terrorist attack on the Paris metro, before making him “disappear” so as to protect the reputation of the U.S. government. When subsequent attacks shock the city, the operative realizes that the boy is innocent but also crucial to finding those responsible.
The script was penned by Andrew Baldwin, the screenwriter behind 2015 Yakuza crime epic The Outsider and an upcoming remake of Logan’s Run. Bastille Day will be produced by Vendome Pictures CEO Philippe Rousselet and Anonymous Content’s Steve Golin, Bard Dorros and David Kanter. No director is currently attached to the project (though The Silence‘s Baran bo Odar was previously rumored), so it may be a while before Bastille Day is in any shape to start shooting.
In the meantime, Elba has a whole slew of projects in the pipeline. Next month, he’ll portray anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela in the hotly-anticipated biopic Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Early reviews of the film have been overwhelmingly positive, and Elba’s emotive performance has sparked talk of a possible Oscar nomination. The actor also recently wrapped London-set drama Second Coming and thriller No Good Deed, both of which will likely hit screens next year. He is currently filming The Gunman, a spy thriller from Taken director Pierre Morel, alongside Javier Bardem, Sean Penn and Ray Winstone.
Are you excited to see Idris Elba take on such an action-heavy part in Bastille Day? Let us know in the comments section!