Idris Elba will star in and produce a mini-series for Showtime called Guerrilla, set to begin shooting in London this summer.
The six-part series takes place in Elba's native England and is set in the 70s. Showtime calls it a “love story” about a couple that forms a “radical underground cell” to target a counter-intelligence unit called the “Black Power Desk,” which aims to suppress all forms of black activism (if you want a bit more background about the UK's black power movement — and the Black Power Desk, which was a real thing — this is a good place to start).
John Ridley, who wrote 12 Years a Slave (and won an Oscar for his work there), and wrote and directed several episodes of American Crime, will write most of the six episodes and direct at least two of them, as well as executive produce.
Showtime is teaming up with Sky Atlantic on the project, which does not have a premiere date.