Idris Elba has started filming his directorial debut 'Yardie'.
Idris Elba
The 'Guerrilla' actor will be shooting the new film, which is based on the 1992 debut novel by Jamaican-born British writer Victor Headley of the same name, in London and Jamaica for seven weeks.
The 44 year old said: "I am interested in making human stories with characters that are either full of grace or flawed.
"In 'Yardie' the audience will see a film that hopefully means something to the people.
"I'm honoured to be able to shoot it in my hometown of London and as a guest in Jamaica."
Idris, who is also producing the film, will star alongside Aml Ameen, Stephen Graham and Jamaican newcomers Shantol Jackson, Sheldon Shepherd and Everaldo Creary in the upcoming movie.
The plot follows a young Jamaican name 'D' who comes to London in the early 1980s and discovers the man who killed her brother a decade earlier.
His quest for justice causes a street war which puts himself and his loved ones in the middle and in peril.
Just last week, the 'Luther' star advertised looking for people to star as "paid extras" in the movie and for them to attend an open audition to learn "more about the project".
However, hundreds of hopefuls turned up and the auditions were shut down by police.
Now it seems the production has been given the green light and is to be co-financed by Studiocanal, the British Film Institute (BFI), BBC Films and Screen Yorkshire.
Robin Gutch ,Gina Carter and Mark Herbert from Warp Films will be producing alongside Dan MacRae and Danny Perkins for Studiocanal; Mary Burke and Ben Roberts for the BFI, Joe Oppenheimer for BBC Films and Hugh Heppell for Screen Yorkshire.
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