Idris Elba is set to star in and direct In Laws, an action-comedy A Higher Standard is launching for sales ahead of the American Film Market, Deadline reports exclusively. Principal photography begins March 2027 in Spain, with additional casting still underway.
Elba plays Carson Hughes, a blacklisted secret agent given a shot at redemption, forced to team up with a young, by-the-book rookie to stop a deadly plot. As the mismatched duo races against the clock, they discover they have more in common than expected, including a wedding neither can afford to miss, as long as they don’t kill each other first along the way.
Elba produces alongside Gina Carter through their 22Summers banner, joined by Jeffrey Greenstein of A Higher Standard and Mark Fasano of Nickel City Pictures. The script comes from Greenstein and Eshom and Ian Nelms, based on an original screenplay by Adrian Speckhert and Cory Hughes. In Laws marks Elba’s fourth feature as director, following Yardie in 2018, the upcoming Above the Below for Lionsgate, premiering December 4, and an untitled Apple Original Films project also starring Wunmi Mosaku and Charlie Cox, set for 2027.
“Gina and I are really excited to make movies that make people laugh, and there’s nothing I love more than a great buddy comedy,” Elba said in a statement. Greenstein added that the project reflects an idea he and Elba have discussed for years, calling the pairing of Elba directing and starring in a two-hander action comedy a natural fit.
The project lands amid an unusually packed stretch for Elba across film, television, and publishing. He’s set to appear in Children of Blood and Bone in January, reprise Knuckles in Sonic the Hedgehog 4 in March, launch a new MI6 thriller book series called Exiles, co-written with Adam Hamdy, in May, and return for a third Extraction film at Netflix, which has already wrapped filming. He’s also reprising his role as John Luther in a new Luther film, also already wrapped, alongside the returning Ruth Wilson.
A Higher Standard’s recent slate includes the action thriller The Get Out, starring Russell Crowe and Aaron Paul, and Runner, with Owen Wilson and Alan Ritchson. Elba and Carter’s 22Summers recently wrapped Luther – The Day Will Come for Netflix and continues developing theater projects after receiving two Olivier Award nominations in 2025.
With a directing career now spanning action, drama, and comedy across four features, Elba’s expanding footprint behind the camera increasingly rivals the breadth of his work in front of it.