Idris Elba is set to star in an upcoming big screen adaptation of Uzodinma Iweala‘s bestselling novel Beasts of No Nation. What definitely sounds promising is that Cary Fukunaga, man who stands behind titles like Jane Eyre and HBO's True Detective, is already on board to direct this complex, difficult portrait of an African boy who is forced to become a child soldier. Head inside to find more details…
Iweala's novel, published in 2006, follows the journey of a young boy named Agu, who is forced to join a group of soldiers in an unnamed West African country.
He must face the death of his father and disappearance of his mother and sister, but he also joins a life of violence and brutality.
Or, if you prefer the official description of the novel:
Agu, a young boy in an unnamed West African nation, is recruited into a unit of guerrilla fighters as civil war engulfs his country. Haunted by his father's own death at the hands of militants, Agu is vulnerable to the dangerous yet paternal nature of his new Commander. While the war rages on, Agu becomes increasingly divorced from the life he had known before the conflict started- a life of school friends, church services, and time with his family still intact.
Not hard to guess that Elba comes on board to play the above mentioned Commander, right?
Anyway, let us also add that Red Crown is funding the project, and that Elba will also produce the movie together with Amy Kaufman, Daniela Taplin Lundberg and Riva Marker.
We'll keep an eye on Beasts of No Nation, make sure you stay tuned!
