Filming has begun on Idris Elba’s directing debut, Yardie, which is based on Victor Headley’s cult novel of the same name.
Elba stars as Piper alongside Aml Ameen (The Maze Runner, The Butler) in the lead role as ‘D’, and Stephen Graham (the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, This Is England, ‘Little Boy Blue’) as Rico.
The film, which will on location in London and Jamaica for seven weeks, will also introduce exciting new Jamaican talent including Shantol Jackson as Yvonne, Sheldon Shepherd as King Fox and Everaldo Creary as Jerry Dread.
Yardiw follows the story of a young Jamaican named ‘D’ (Ameen) who, on arriving in early 1980s London, unexpectedly finds the young man who assassinated his revered brother back in Jamaica ten years before. His quest for justice explodes into a violent street war that could end up killing him and his loved ones.
Elba commented: “I am interested in making human stories with characters that are either, full of grace or flawed.
“In Yardie the audience will see a film that hopefully means something to the people. I’m honoured to able to shoot it in my home town of London and as a guest in Jamaica.”
YARDIE is financed by STUDIOCANAL, BFI, BBC Films and Screen Yorkshire. Universal Music are partners in the film and their Island Records label will be releasing the soundtrack.
Executive producers are Dan MacRae and Danny Perkins for STUDIOCANAL, Mary Burke and Ben Roberts for BFI, Joe Oppenheimer for BBC Films, Hugo Heppell for Screen Yorkshire, Mark Herbert for Warp Films, and Idris Elba.