Idris Elba is heading back behind the camera, and this time he is chasing laughs. The actor will direct and star in In Laws, an action-comedy that is expected to start filming in Spain in March 2027, TheGrio reported Saturday, citing an exclusive from Deadline.
Elba plays Carson Hughes, a blacklisted secret agent who gets one shot at redemption. The catch is that he must team with a younger rookie agent who goes strictly by the book to stop a deadly plot, and the two also have a wedding to get to. Their clashing styles put both the mission and the ceremony at risk. Casting for the rest of the ensemble is underway, and no co-stars have been announced.
Jeffrey Greenstein wrote the screenplay with brothers Eshom and Ian Nelms, working from an original script by Adrian Speckhert and Cory Hughes. Elba is producing with Gina Carter through their company, 22Summers, alongside Greenstein for A Higher Standard and Mark Fasano for Nickel City Pictures. Elba told Deadline that "there's nothing I love more than a great buddy comedy," calling it a genre he has always loved.
Elba's growing directing slate
The project would mark Elba's fourth feature as a director, and it adds to a busy run on that side of the camera. He made his feature directing debut with the 2018 crime drama Yardie. His underwater survival thriller Above the Below, which he also stars in, is set to open Dec. 4.
He is also attached to direct an untitled Apple Original Films project featuring Wunmi Mosaku and Charlie Cox, which is expected in 2027. With In Laws slated to shoot that spring, Elba is lining up back-to-back directing work for the coming year.
Elba said he and his producing partners are excited to bring their own spin to the buddy-comedy format, which pairs the blacklisted spy with a partner who could not be more different.
No distributor or release date for In Laws has been announced.
