Things aren’t looking so great for John Luther in the first trailer for Luther: The Fallen Sun. The upcoming Netflix film sees Idris Elba return as the beleaguered detective, and the new clip shows him breaking out of prison in order to solve a crime that continues to haunt him before going up against a menacing new villain played by Andy Serkis.
The movie itself is a continuation of Luther the TV series, which ended in 2019 after five seasons. In addition to Elba and Serkis, it also stars Cynthia Erivo and Dermot Crowley, who reprises his role as detective superintendent Martin Schenk. It’s directed by Jamie Payne, who directed several episodes of the show, with a screenplay from series creator Neil Cross. With all of these familiar faces, if nothing else, the movie should have a smooth continuity after the franchise took a few years off.
The Fallen Sun starts streaming on March 10th but will be in select theaters starting on February 24th.
“Luther” ran for five seasons between 2010 and 2019. Elba notched four Emmy nominations, plus two Golden Globe wins, a Screen Actors Guild award, a Critics Choice award and a Royal Television Society best actor trophy for his performance as the dedicated police officer and crime detective. The show received 11 Emmy noms, including three outstanding miniseries or TV movie nods. Core creatives from the original show have also returned for the Netflix film, including series creator and writer Neil Cross, who penned the movie’s screenplay. Jamie Payne, who directed the show’s fifth season, returned to helm the film.
Cynthia Erivo and Andy Serkis also star in the film, with Serkis playing a serial killer who faces off against Luther. Dermot Crawley reprises his “Luther” TV role of Martin Schenk in the film.
Elba began teasing the strong likelihood of “Luther” continuing at the 2020 BAFTA Television Awards, remarking at the time: “With film, the sky is the limit. You can be a little bit more bold with the storylines. And a little bit more international, and a little more up the scale. But John Luther is always going to be John Luther.”
