{"id":693272,"date":"2026-07-15T16:20:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T16:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/693272\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T16:20:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T16:20:13","slug":"idris-elba-to-make-slate-of-west-african-action-films","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/693272\/","title":{"rendered":"Idris Elba To Make Slate Of West African Action Films"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tEXCLUSIVE: Idris Elba<\/a>\u2018s 22Summers<\/a> is teaming with Moses Babatope\u2019s Nigerian outfit Nile Media Entertainment Group and Chee Keong Cheung\u2019s UK genre firm Action Xtreme on a slate of action films originating from across West Africa.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe aim is to develop and produce a slate of \u201chigh-energy, commercially driven action films rooted in African stories and talent, while creating a long-term production ecosystem designed to nurture local creatives and build globally competitive genre filmmaking from the continent\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to the partners, the first film will be announced shortly and is scheduled to go into production in Q4, 2026, with the second in Q1, 2027. <\/p>\n

\n\tIdris Elba and Gina Carter will executive-produce, with The Wire and Luther star Elba set to direct one film as part of the collaboration. Chee Keong Cheung will direct the first film and produce for Action Xtreme and Moses Babatope will produce for Nile Motion Picture. African distribution will be handled by Nile Entertainment.<\/p>\n

\n\tElba, whose mother is from Ghana and father from Sierra Leone, has a strong attachment to Africa. The Thor star is behind projects to build film studios on the Tanzanian islands of Zanzibar and one in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, and recently shot and starred in Ghana-set Apple feature This Is How It Goes with a cast also including Charlie Cox and Wunmi Mosaku.<\/p>\n

\n\tElba and Gina Carter\u2019s 22Summers has made projects including Elba\u2019s directorial debut Yardie and the space-thriller Above The Below, Apple TV thriller Bola, and is in post-production on feature Luther \u2014 The Day Will Come for Netflix.<\/p>\n

\n\tNile Media Entertainment Group is one of West Africa\u2019s leading production, distribution, and exhibition companies. Founded and led by Nigerian industry vet Moses Babatope, the group is the West African theatrical distributor for Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures through its partnership with UIP.<\/p>\n

\n\tChee Keong Cheung and Andreas Roald\u2019s UK genre outfit Action Xtreme recently made Nigerian action-thriller Son Of The Soil. <\/p>\n

\n\tElba said today: \u201cThe journey continues, strengthening the African film industry is about collaboration and shared perspectives. I am fortunate to have these partners (Action Xtreme And Nile) and aim to have global success with this slate. Success breeds data and data breeds investment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMoses Babatope, Group CEO of The Nile Media Entertainment Group, added: \u201cThis partnership represents a significant step in our vision of building globally competitive African cinema. Action is one of the world\u2019s most commercially powerful genres, yet Africa remains largely underrepresented in that space despite the incredible stories, talent, and creative energy that exist across the continent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tChee Keong Cheung, CEO of Action Xtreme, commented: \u201cMaking Son of the Soil in Nigeria was an extraordinary experience and it made me appreciate the incredible depth of talent, stories and creative energy within Africa that deserves a global stage. What we are building with this collaboration is not just a slate of films, but a sustainable ecosystem where African action cinema can thrive. By combining local talent with international production expertise, we want to create commercially exciting films that travel worldwide while remaining authentically rooted in Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Idris Elba\u2018s 22Summers is teaming with Moses Babatope\u2019s Nigerian outfit Nile Media Entertainment Group and Chee Keong…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":693273,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[230707,96,53337,2839,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-693272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-22summers","tag-entertainment","tag-idris-elba","tag-movies","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=693272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/693273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=693272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=693272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=693272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}