Idris Elba is joining The Mountain Between Us, a long gestating Fox 2000 project that was originally supposed to star Charlie Hunnam and Rosamund Pike.
The movie was originally going to be a follow-up role to her Oscar-nominated performance in Gone Girl for Pike, who was cast just after that film hit theaters. It would have also been a big part for former Sons of Anarchy star Hunnam, who famously turned down Fifty Shades of Grey.
Both Hunnam and Pike have left, although Hany Abu-Assad (Paradise Now) is still attached to the film, reports The Hollywood Reporter. Chris Weitz is now working on the screenplay after past drafts by J. Mills Goodloe and Scott Frank. The film will be produced by Chernin Entertainment for Fox 2000.
The Mountain Between Us is a best-selling novel by Charles Martin. It centers on writer Ashley Knox and Dr. Ben Payne who need to work together to survive in the wilderness after a plane crash. The two characters fall in love as the story develops.
Elba is best known for his work in Luther and just won a Screen Actors Guild Award for the film Beasts of No Nation. He is currently working on Star Trek Beyond and A Hundred Streets. He has voice roles in The Jungle Book and Finding Dory as well.