Idris Elba is a “Beast,” as he’s set to star in a survival thriller from “Everest” director Baltasar Kormákur that will be set up at Universal.
The plot details for “Beast” are being kept under wraps, but the film is based on an original idea from writer Jaime Primak-Sullivan. “Rampage” screenwriter Ryan Engle wrote the script.
Will Packer and James Lopez will produce “Beast” through their Will Packer Productions. Kormákur will produce through his RVK Studios. Primak-Sullivan will executive produce. Packer, Lopez, Primak-Sullivan and Engle all previously worked together on the 2018 thriller “Breaking In.”
Universal’s executive vice president of production Matt Reilly and creative executive Tony Ducret will oversee the project on behalf of the studio.
Idris Elba was last seen in “Concrete Cowboy,” which made its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this fall. Elba will also be seen in “The Suicide Squad” from James Gunn and “The Harder They Fall.”
The Icelandic director Kormákur is working on “Katla,” a Netflix series that was among the first to get back to filming during the pandemic shooting on location in Iceland.
Elba is represented by The Artists Partnership, WME, M88 and Ziffren Brittenham LLP. Kormakur is represented by WME, Range and Nelson Davis LLP.
THR first reported the news of the project.