Idris Elba and John Cena will reunite in Heads of State, a new action movie in the works at Amazon Studios. Deadline reports that the project was pitched specifically to team the two actors back up following the release of The Suicide Squad next year, which will feature both Elba and Cena as part of the titular team of antiheroes. Amazon reportedly acquired the rights to Heads of State quickly after a Zoom pitch meeting with screenwriter Harrison Query and producers Peter Safran and John Rickard of The Safran Company.
Full plot details haven’t been revealed, but the story is described as “’90s style two-hander, a high octane premise that has a bit of Air Force One meets Hobbs and Shaw, bringing together an odd couple in a high stakes situation.” Impressed with their chemistry in The Suicide Squad, word is Safran – who served as a producer for the James Gunn-directed movie – tasked Query with penning a movie featuring Idris Elba and John Cena in the lead roles. No director has yet been named for Heads of State.
In The Suicide Squad, Elba plays Bloodsport, a mercenary serving time in prison for the attempted assasination of Superman. Cena is also a part of the movie’s ensemble cast as Peacemaker, a pacifist who will do anything to achieve peace – even kill. Gunn will also expand Peacemaker’s story in an eight-episode HBO Max series with Cena back in the role. No other characters have yet been confirmed to appear in the series, but odds are it will have a few familiar faces. Given their apparent chemistry, there’s a good chance we could see Idris appear in the series as Bloodsport.
Idris Elba will have his hands completely full for the foreseeable future, with no shortage of upcoming projects to keep him busy. Hot off of the production of The Suicide Squad, Elba is back to work on the upcoming Western The Harder They Fall, which also stars Jonathan Majors, Zazie Beetz, Regina King, Delroy Lindo, and Lakeith Stanfield. He also just signed on to appear in Universal’s upcoming survival thriller Beast, which will pit Elba against a ferocious lion.
Cena and Elba also both are a part of the Fast and Furious universe, though their characters didn’t meet. In last year’s spinoff movie Hobbs and Shaw, Elba played the villain to the titular characters played by Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham. Meanwhile, Cena will be introduced into the Fast and Furious universe when F9 is released in theaters on April 2, 2021. He’ll be playing the brother of Vin Diesel’s Dom Toretto. Aside from The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, Cena can also be seen in the upcoming comedy Vacation Friends alongside Meredith Hagner, Lil Rel Howery, and Yvonne Orji.
The Suicide Squad is scheduled to premiere in theaters on Aug. 6, 2021. Along with Cena and Elba, the movie’s large ensemble cast includes Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Daniela Melchior, Storm Reid, Taika Waititi, Michael Rooker, Peter Capaldi, Nathan Fillion, Alice Baraga, and Pete Davidson. This news comes to us from Deadline.
