Some deals just hit different, and this is one of them.
Idris Elba’s 22Summers is linking up with Moses Babatope’s Nile Media Entertainment Group and Chee Keong Cheung’s Action Xtreme to cook up a slate of West African action films. Yes, ACTION films! Explosions, Car chases, somebody flying through a window in slow motion while premium afrobeats plays…Just imagine that.
Nollywood is finally getting its Fast & Furious arc and we are SO ready.
Why this isn’t just another celebrity “I love Africa” moment
The whole point of this is “high-energy, commercially driven action films” built on African stories and African talent, with the bigger goal of building an ecosystem that actually survives past one press release.
This man is out here thinking legacy, and we are so ready to see it!
He’s not just lending his face either, Elba and his longtime producing partner Gina Carter are executive producing the entire slate, and Elba’s directing one himself. Cheung’s directing the first film, Babatope’s producing on the ground in Nigeria, Nile Entertainment’s handling distribution.
Everybody clocked in. Nobody’s just “executive producer”
The timeline is not here to play games
First film gets announced soon, cameras roll Q4 2026. Second one starts Q1 2027. That’s really fast!
Real money is already sitting on the table, and this is happening.
Elba’s Africa arc, season 3
If you’ve been paying attention, the man has basically been quietly building a whole continent’s worth of studios like it’s a side quest. Ghanaian mum, Sierra Leonean dad, studio plans in Accra AND Zanzibar, and he just wrapped a Ghana-set Apple project with Charlie Cox like it’s nothing.
Fun fact: Cheung already shot an action film in Nigeria before this, so this isn’t two strangers meeting on LinkedIn, these people have actually survived working together before, which in film is basically a marriage certificate.
The real gist
West Africa has always had the talent, the stories, the audience that will show up opening weekend rain or shine. What was missing was the infrastructure to turn a local hit into a global franchise.
Elba’s star power + Nile’s on-ground hustle + Action Xtreme’s genre chops might actually be the combo that gets us there.
If the “ecosystem” talk survives past the first two films (Nollywood promises to have a track record here, we’re watching, this could be one of the biggest African film deals in years.
Eyes on that first title drop with our Popcorn ready!
Want to read more amazing content? Here you go! https://kraks.co/the-comedy-in-nigerian-politics/
0 Comments