Idris Elba will both headline and direct the action-comedy In Laws, and A Higher Standard is taking worldwide sales out ahead of the American Film Market, Deadline reported exclusively on 6 November. Cameras are due to roll in Spain in March 2027, and the producers are still filling out the cast. Budget and co-financing partners were not disclosed.
Key facts
- Project: In Laws – Elba plays Carson Hughes and directs; A Higher Standard handles worldwide sales at AFM
- Writers: Jeffrey Greenstein and Eshom & Ian Nelms, based on an original screenplay by Adrian Speckhert and Cory Hughes
- Shoot: Spain, March 2027; further casting still open
- Banner context: A Higher Standard recent titles include The Get Out and Runner; Elba and Gina Carter’s 22Summers recently wrapped Luther – The Day Will Come for Netflix
Buddy-comedy brief and AFM launch
Deadline’s logline follows Carson Hughes (Elba), a blacklisted secret agent offered redemption who is forced to pair with a by-the-book rookie. The pair must stop a deadly plot while racing to a wedding neither can miss. Elba said he and Carter want films that make audiences laugh and that he has long wanted to put a spin on the buddy comedy. Greenstein called it a project the pair had discussed and framed Elba directing and starring as the right setup for a two-hander action comedy.
A Higher Standard’s recent releases include the action thriller The Get Out, with Russell Crowe, Luke Evans, Teresa Palmer, Nina Dobrev and Aaron Paul, and Runner with Owen Wilson and Alan Ritchson. The banner’s latest wrap is the dark thriller Sunny starring Angelina Jolie. Elba and Carter’s 22Summers recently finished Luther – The Day Will Come for Netflix; the company also has theatre projects in development and received two Olivier Award nominations in 2025. Elba is repped by The Artists Partnership, WME and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole.
Deadline’s exclusive does not carry a budget, a domestic distribution plan or a co-star. AFM will be the first public sales test of whether buyers treat Elba’s dual role as enough package without a second announced lead.
Foreign sales pricing is where the dual credit bites. Buyers who already take Elba as a star now have to underwrite him as director as well, which can help or hinder depending on territory taste for star-driven comedy. Spain as a base keeps European tax-credit conversations open without locking a UK or US shoot. A Higher Standard’s recent Crowe and Wilson titles give sales agents a comparable action shelf; what In Laws still needs is a second name that tells exhibitors whether this is a broad comedy or a leaner two-hander.
Our reading
For AFM buyers, In Laws is a comedy-action package with a director-star who already sells internationally, timed to a March 2027 Spain start. Without a second lead and a budget band, sales agents will price it as an Elba-driven two-hander rather than a four-quadrant event. The next document that firms the package is a co-star announcement or a visible AFM deal memo.
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