The long awaited Luther movie is now just around the corner.
Luther: The Fallen Sun: It feels like an age since the Luther movie was confirmed to have begun filming, but finally we’ve been given our first look at what Idris Elba’s hero will be up to in the big screen outing.
With pictures showing him in snowy landscape and synopses teasing a prison break, it seems the ante really has been upped from the original BBC series, which ran for five seasons.
We also now have a release date for the movie, and after a long wait, fans will be relieved to know they won’t have to wait much more.
Read on for everything you need to know about the movie, which Netflix has produced in association with the BBC, including its release date and star-studded cast.
Luther: The Fallen Sun release date
After years of waiting, we finally know when the Luther movie, subtitled The Fallen Sun, will arrive on screens.
Luther: Fallen Sun will be available in select cinemas from 24th February for a limited release window, before it arrives on Netflix from 10th March 2023.
This means it’s only a matter of weeks until we get to see Idris Elba’s detective on the big screen… we can’t wait!
Who is in the cast of Luther: The Fallen Sun?
The only two cast members from the Luther series currently confirmed to appear in the film are Elba as Luther himself, and Dermot Crowley as Martin Schenk.
When it comes to new additions, The Batman’s Andy Serkis will star as the film’s villain David Robey, a tech billionaire who uses surveillance technology to manipulate and kill civilians, while Cynthia Erivo (Pinocchio) will play a rival detective and Luther’s nemesis, named Odette Raine.
Other currently known members of the cast are few and far between, but for now here is the list of the cast and characters set to appear in Luther: The Fallen Sun:
- Idris Elba as John Luther
- Andy Serkis as David Robey
- Cynthia Erivo as Odette Raine
- Dermot Crowley as DSU Martin Schenk.
- Peter Theobalds as DC Williams
- Lauryn Ajufo as Anya
- Henry Hereford as Brian Lee
- Alexander Anderson as Ian Moore
- Einar Kuusk as Arkady Kachimov
- Natasha Patel as Lydia Deng
Luther: The Fallen Sun plot – What happens in the Netflix film?
We now have our first hints at the movie’s plot, thanks to a synopsis released by Netflix. It reads as follows: “In Luther: The Fallen Sun — an epic continuation of the award-winning television saga reimagined for film — a gruesome serial killer is terrorising London while brilliant but disgraced detective John Luther (Idris Elba) sits behind bars.
“Haunted by his failure to capture the cyber psychopath who now taunts him, Luther decides to break out of prison to finish the job by any means necessary.”
Meanwhile, Elba has recently given more hints about the film – and the future of the Luther franchise – in an interview with Total Film magazine.
He said: “It’s not a competition, but I reference Bond as a template for the type of film we’re going for. John is a leading character in a film that he’s the hero of. That’s the comparison I’m making. Some films do them well – Bond is one of them. But my ambition for it is to have that sort of scale, that reverence.
“I want people to be like: ‘Ooh! Luther, the first film? Wicked.’ And to continue that. And then maybe later down the line, when I’m too old, someone else will step in to play John.”
Elba also said he and the team were “desperate to take Luther out of Luther-land, and put him in the big world” in the film and that “I think that’s a really important characteristic of scale and growth in our films.”
He continued: “I mean, can you just imagine John in Colombia, or darkest Berlin where it’s really weird and underground? Luther could go to America if we want to do that. That, to me, is exciting. And taking the rules of Luther-land and transposing them to different environments is really exciting for us.”
This certainly tracks with previous comments by Luther creator Neil Cross. In June 2021 he told BBC that a film budget would allow the Luther universe to expand, while of course staying true to the spirit of the TV show.
“I think the thing with Luther is never to rule out anything,” he said. “All we’ve ever wanted to do is, within the parameters that we’re given, make the best possible show.
“What we’ve been able to do [with the movie] – having delivered every episode of Luther on budgets which are comically small – is to have a wider canvas and a bigger budget to tell the kind of stories that we we’ve always wanted to be able to tell. And we’ve really been given the opportunity – while staying entirely true.”
Luther: The Fallen Sun trailer
While Netflix hasn’t released a full trailer for Luther: The Fallen Sun just yet, the streamer has now given us a quick tease, posted to their social channels alongside the release date announcement.
In the footage, Elba’s character can be seen in the shadows, before his voiceover says: “Something’s coming”. Another voice then appears to say “Do you see me now?”. But who is it? And what does it all mean?
Something's coming…
— Netflix (@netflix) January 12, 2023
Luther: The Fallen Sun in select theaters February 24 and March 10 on Netflix pic.twitter.com/zFAwmrEbaj
Luther: Fallen Sun will be in select cinemas from 24th February and on Netflix from 10th March 2023
