So, what was that tweet all about? At the end of May, Idris Elba took to his Twitter and cryptically tweeted, “Having one of the biggest meetings of my professional life today…meeting a very controversial director for a very controversial part.” He followed that up with, “I wish I could tell you more but…in due time,” and also added, “On the plane to the destination of my fate…..ok…. a lil dramatic….destination of my life..?” While many (including us) figured he was talking about “Django Unchained,” word began to crop up he was being eyed for another movie entirely: Guillermo Del Toro‘s “Pacific Rim.”
Deadline reports that Elba has now officially come on board the film in the role that was originally being developed for Tom Cruise, who was also looking at the movie back in May before Stringer Bell tweeted the hints. The intriguing part here is that while some speculated that Elba would be snagging the role of Lieutenant-Commander Stacker Pentecost, the news is that he’s actually taking the part of Sensei/Pentecost in the script, a black Briton and commanding officer of Charlie Hunnam‘s character. It’s likely the part was retooled for Cruise when he was circling, but probably reverted back now that Elba has signed on.
The other little morsel to note is that Mike Fleming says (vaguely) about “Django Unchained” that he is “persuaded that the role will likely go to Jamie Foxx” which certainly adds some meat to the news that hit over the evening that he has been chosen for the lead by Quentin Tarantino.
Elba joins Hunnam, and the recently revealed Charlie Day in the massive monster movie that will begin shooting later this year. No release date has yet been set. As for Cruise, he’s not lacking in options and will head to a different sci-fi film this fall in the shape of Joseph Kosinski‘s “Oblivion.”