Idris Elba Lands Title Role in Adaptation of James Patterson's Cross
Posted 08.30.10 by BrentJS
After co-starring in a string of ensemble movies this year, including The Losers (April), Takers (currently in theaters) and Thor (post-production), British actor Idris Elba will finally take center stage as the lead actor of a movie franchise. According to Deadline, Elba will star as Dr. Alex Cross in Cross, the third movie based on the character created by prolific novelist James Patterson.
Elba will take over the role previously played by Morgan Freeman in Kiss the Girls (1997) and Along Came a Spider (2001), Paramount Pictures adaptations of the first two books in Patterson’s 17-volume Alex Cross series of thrillers. The screenplay for Cross, which finds the title character on the hunt for a serial killer who may have killed his pregnant wife years earlier, was originally written by Kerry Williamson. However, David Twohy (The Chronicles of Riddick), who is signed on to direct Cross, will rewrite the script. The movie will be independently financed, but does not yet have a distributor.