Idris Elba has become the latest A-lister to bring a show to Jeffrey Katzenberg’s short-form streaming service Quibi.
Elba (Luther, Hobbs & Shaw) and renowned rally driver Ken Block will star in a car-stunt series called, appropriately enough, Elba vs. Block. The eight-episode show will pit the two against each other to see who can outperform the other in a series of stunts in London’s Docklands with names like “Wall of Death,” “Car Tightrope” and “Flaming Obstacle Course.”
Elba’s Green Door Pictures is also producing the show along with Workerbee, part of Endemol Shine U.K.
“Ken is my driving hero. I’ve never worked with a driver as skilled as him, so I’m a little intimidated by his talent,” said Elba. “I love challenges, I love speed and I’m a ‘wheel man,’ so let’s see how this plays out.”
Block is a professional rally driver with a penchant for automotive stunts, as recorded in his Gymkhana video series, which has racked up more than 550 million YouTube views. “I’m really excited to be partnering up with Idris on this new show,” he said. “I’ve admired his work for years, and he has a reputation as a man who likes to go fast behind the wheel of a car, so I think we’re going to have a lot of fun with these challenges that the producers have lined up for us.”
Added Workerbee managing director Rick Murray, “Being one of the first production companies to work with such an innovative platform is allowing us to rip up the rule book in terms of storytelling which is incredibly exciting. Having worked with Idris previously on several motorsport projects, we know he has a genuine passion for speed — so this is going to be an adrenaline-fueled ride from start to finish.”
Quibi, which is targeting a spring 2020 launch, has scripted and unscripted projects in the works from Lena Waithe, Jennifer Lopez, Guillermo del Toro, Sam Raimi and Don Cheadle, among others. The platform will be targeted at mobile users with shows broken into “chapters” running 8 to 10 minutes. Katzenberg and CEO Meg Whitman also plan to have short daily newscasts, a sports highlights show and a late-night roundup.
(Excerpt) Read more in: The Hollywood Reporter