After an intense bidding war, Idris Elba and Simon Kinberg have teamed up for a yet-to-be-titled spy romance film which has landed at Apple. Elba will star and produce the film, described as a “spy movie with romance” set in Africa.
The new project marks another return to the spy genre for Kinberg, who wrote “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” and has the upcoming spy thriller “355” starring Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o, Penelope Cruz, Diane Kruger and Fan Bin Bing set for release by Universal in Jan 2021.
In July, Variety reported that Elba and his Green Door Pictures production company signed a first-look deal with the streamer. Under the deal, Elba and Green Door would produce both series and features for Apple’s streaming platform, Apple TV Plus. Kinberg has his own first-look deal with the streamer, with an untitled tentpole sci-fi series in the works.
MacDailyNews Take: The ever-growing list of creatives with deals at Apple TV+ include Idris Elba, Oprah Winfrey, Alfonso Cuarón, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Justin Lin, The Morning Show‘s Kerry Ehrin, Jason Katims, Little America showrunner Lee Eisenberg, Monica Beletsky, Sharon Horgan, Dickinson creator Alena Smith and Simon Kinberg. Apple also has deals with Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions, A24, Imagine Documentaries, Sesame Workshop and Peanuts.
The full list of everything currently available on Apple TV+ is here.