FOX Remaking BBC's 'Luther' For American Audiences

This season, FOX decided to remake British drama Broadchurch, and they even hired original star David Tennant to come over and reprise his role for the American version, renamed Gracepoint. But FOX is taking a different approach for its latest remake.

BBC crime drama Luther is getting an American remake, as FOX has given a significant "put pilot commitment with a seven-figure penalty" to the adaptation. However, as of right now, lead star Idris Elba is not expected to have an onscreen role in the project. Instead, he will serve as an executive producer alongside writer/executive producer/original series creator Neil Cross. The project comes from 20th Century Fox TV, Chernin Entertainment and BBC Worldwide Productions, and will feature Chernin’s Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope and BBC Worldwide Prods’ Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner as executive producers as well. The drama, which ran for three seasons and earned eight Emmy nominations (including Best Miniseries and Best Actor for Elba), centers on a passionate, extremely intelligent detective who solves murders while trying to keep his violent side in check.

The original is perfectly fine as it is, so I'm not sure why an American remake is necessary, especially considering that all three seasons of Luther are on Netflix as we speak. And I'm not entirely convinced FOX is going to be able to find someone who can play the role of John Luther better than Idris Elba himself. This show could either be a surprise or a disaster. Maybe both. But at least we'll always have the original, no matter how this plays out.

Via: Deadline

Credit: Robert Viglasky/BBC