Idris Elba Makes His Mark in 'Beasts of No Nation' Trailer
Not to be lost in all the hoopla about misguided comments regarding the potential of Idris Elba playing James Bond is the fact that the 42-year-old actor isn’t exactly struggling for good parts these days — and, in fact, his latest role is a whopper. Elba plays a merciless African war general who forces child soldiers into battle in the upcoming Netflix drama Beasts of No Nation, and you can get a first full look at the film in the trailer above.
The movie — which will play in theaters and on Netflix on the same day — is directed by Cary Fukunaga, who’s fiery-hot from the success of the first season of True Detective. And, as he did with that show, the director is keeping some of the key details a secret: Elba’s character is simply known as Commandant, and Beasts never names the war-torn African country in which it takes place (though its narrative mirrors the horrific events that have played out in nations like Uganda, Sierra Leone, Sudan and the Congo).
Elba, who earned a Golden Globe nomination in 2014 for playing the titular South African leader in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, is already the recipient of heavy awards chatter following the film’s premiere at the Venice Film Festival this week, and with subsequent screenings coming up at the buzz-generating fests in Telluride and Toronto.
Beasts of No Nation could be a game-changer for the traditional film release pattern. Distributed by Netflix, it’s the highest-profile movie yet to be available for streaming on the service the same day it hits theaters Oct. 16, much to the chagrin of certain exhibitor chains.
