The multi-talented treasure that is Idris Elba is set to direct, produce, compose original music for, and star in a modern day retelling of the Hunchback of Notre Dame for Netflix. The Hollywood Reporter says the remake has been described as a “sonic and musical experience.” Elba starred in the streaming service's first-ever film, Beasts of No Nation, in 2015; since, Netflix has become a serious original movie factory.
The Luther star's remake of the 1831 Victor Hugo novel popularized by the '90s Disney animated movie comes as the actor is starting to branch out into more behind-the-scenes work. Earlier this year, Elba premiered his directorial debut Yardie at Sundance. He's also starring in and executive producing the British series In the Long Run, a semi-biographical comedy of a Sierra Leone immigrant living in London set in the '80s.
Elba additionally created the comedy seriesTurn Up Charlie, which he will star in and executive produce, about an up-and-coming DJ named Charlie who gets a job as a nanny. Netflix has picked that up, too, and production is set to begin this month
The Hunchback remake will be penned by The Current War and The Giver writer Michael Mitnick, and La La Land producer Fred Berger and Midnight Special producer Brian Kavanaugh-Jones will join Elba as producers.
While this is all we currently know about Elba’s newest project, if he's starring, it seems safe to assume he will play Quasimodo (that’s the Hunchback for all you kids who forgot your roots). If that’s the case, then the true question remains: who will be Esmeralda?
