With the first film expected to enter production later this year, the initiative signals an ambitious effort to position West Africa as a major player in the global action film landscape.
By Joseph Jonathan
British actor, filmmaker, and producer Idris Elba is expanding his investment in African cinema through a new partnership between his production company, 22Summers, Nigeria’s Nile Media Entertainment Group, and UK-based genre outfit Action Xtreme to develop a slate of West African action films.
According to a report by Deadline, the collaboration will focus on producing “high-energy, commercially driven action films” rooted in African stories and talent, while establishing a sustainable production ecosystem aimed at strengthening action filmmaking across the continent.
The first project from the partnership is expected to be announced soon, with production slated to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026. A second feature is scheduled to enter production in the first quarter of 2027.
Elba and his longtime producing partner Gina Carter will executive produce the slate through 22Summers, with Elba also attached to direct one of the films. Action Xtreme founder Chee Keong Cheung will direct the first feature while producing alongside Nile Media Entertainment Group CEO Moses Babatope. African theatrical distribution will be handled by Nile Entertainment.
The announcement marks another significant step in Elba’s growing engagement with African filmmaking. In recent years, the actor has championed the development of film infrastructure across the continent, unveiling plans for film studios in Accra, Ghana, and Zanzibar, Tanzania. He also recently filmed This Is How It Goes, a Ghana-set Apple feature starring Charlie Cox and Wunmi Mosaku.
Last year, Elba deepened his creative ties to the continent with Dust to Dreams, a short film born from an Africa-centred partnership between Idris Elba and Mo Abudu of EbonyLife Films. Despite its flaws, the project underscored his stated ambition to create more opportunities for African storytellers both behind and in front of the camera.
For Nile Media, the collaboration builds on its growing influence across Africa’s film value chain. Led by industry executive Moses Babatope, the company has become one of West Africa’s leading production, exhibition, and distribution outfits, serving as the regional theatrical distributor for Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures through its partnership with United International Pictures (UIP).
Meanwhile, Action Xtreme enters the partnership following its experience producing the Nigerian action thriller Son of the Soil (2025), one of a growing number of internationally driven collaborations seeking to build commercially viable African action cinema through partnerships between local filmmakers and global producers.
Speaking about the collaboration, Elba said that strengthening Africa’s film industries depends on collaboration and shared perspectives. He added that he hopes the slate will achieve global success, arguing that successful projects generate the data needed to attract greater investment into the continent’s film industries.
Babatope described the partnership as an important step towards Nile Media’s ambition of building globally competitive African cinema. He noted that although action remains one of the world’s most commercially successful film genres, Africa continues to be underrepresented despite the continent’s abundance of stories, talent, and creative energy.
Cheung, whose recent experience filming Son of the Soil in Nigeria informed the collaboration, said the initiative aims to create not only a slate of films but also a sustainable ecosystem for African action cinema. He added that combining local talent with international production expertise could help produce commercially exciting films capable of travelling globally while remaining authentically rooted in African stories.
With the first film expected to enter production later this year, the initiative signals an ambitious effort to position West Africa as a major player in the global action film landscape, a genre in which African cinema has historically been underrepresented despite its expanding international profile.