Netflix has just announced thatBeasts Of No Nation, a forthcoming West African war drama starring Idris Elba, is to be the first release from its growing roster of original feature films. Written and directed by Emmy Award-winning True Detective director Cary Fukunaga, the film was recently acquired by the global streaming platform for $12 million. According to Shadow and Act, Beasts Of No Nation will make its global streaming debut on October 16, 2015. Despite an early boycott by major theater chains, the film will also premiere in selects theaters across the U.S. that same day.
Beasts Of No Nation is the screen adaptation of Nigerian writer and Ventures Africa editor-in-chief Uzodinma Iweala’s critically acclaimed debut novel. Published in 2005, Iweala’s Beasts Of No Nation (which takes its name from the 1989 record from Fela Kuti) presents a first-person narrative account of a young boy named Agu (portrayed in the film by Abraham Attah) who is forced to join a unit of mercenary fighters when civil war engulfs his (unnamed) West African country. Elba portrays the brutal Commandant who recruits Agu, and will also serve as producer on the project in conjunction with Red Crown Productions.
