At one point this year, you couldn’t turn around without hearing the news Idris Elba was sticking his fingers in some kind of pie. Now, it turns out, Netflix has snapped him up to star in the new Western feature ‘The Harder They Fall’.
Elba joins Jonathan Majors on the cast. The Bullitts singer-songwriter, Jeymes Samuel will make his directorial debut on the Western which has an all-black cast.
The story will follow outlaw Nat Love (Majors), who, upon discovering that the man (Elba) who killed his parents two decades previously is being released from prison, reunites with his gang to track his enemy down and seek his revenge.
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Rapper and entrepreneur, Jay-Z is putting his multi-million-pound talent on the film as producer along with James Lassiter, Lawrence Bender and Samuel. Jay-Z and Samuel previously collaborated on the soundtrack for Baz Luhrmann’s ‘The Great Gatsby’.
Netflix had a hit on their hands with their previous Western series venture ‘Godless’.
Elba was last seen in the ‘Fast and Furious’ spin-off ‘Hobbs & Shaw’ in which he played the villain Brixton alongside Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham. He has also previously worked with Netflix on his own series ‘Turn Up Charlie’ where he played a washed-up DJ now resorted to playing babysitter for his successful best friend. His upcoming films include the eyebrow-raising musical adaptation of ‘Cats’, James Gunn’s ‘The Suicide Squad’ and Ricky Staub drama ‘Ghetto Cowboy’ alongside Lorraine Toussaint.
