If you missed your chance to watch Idris Elba fight a lion on the big screen now you have a second chance! The multi-talented actor, DJ, and musician is starring in Beast, a tense action thriller. Unlike Cats, where Elba played the dangerous cat McCavity, in Beast it's Elba who is the victim of a dangerous feline. He plays Dr. Nate Samuels, a grieving widower who takes his children to South Africa following the death of his wife. There they are stalked by a rogue lion whose pride was killed by poachers. This role is certainly a change from some of Elba’s more recent roles like the voice of Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic The Hedgehog 2 and Heimdall in Thor: Love and Thunder. (Be sure to watch the post-credit scene.) Of course, Elba more than has the range for this, as some of his past roles include Stringer Bell in The Wire and Nelson Mandela in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.
Elba isn’t the only talented member of the cast; the roles of Dr. Samuels’ children, Meredith and Norah, are played by Iyana Halley and Leah Sava Jeffries. Halley has played roles including the adult version of Annie in This is Us and Taylor Howard in Abbott Elementary. Jeffries played Lola in the series Empire and will be playing Annabeth in the upcoming Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Dr. Samuels’ old friend Martin is played by Sharlto Copley. Copley, a prolific South African actor, has been in movies including Chappie, District 9, and Hardcore Henry and has also had roles in multiple popular TV shows including Season 2 of Russian Doll.
Behind the camera is plenty of talent as well, since the movie is directed by the skilled Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur. Kormákur has previously directed films including A Little Trip to Heaven, Everest, Adrift, Contraband, and 2 Guns. Interestingly, the story is credited to Jaime Primak Sullivan, a publicist, whose move from New Jersey to Alabama was chronicled in the 2014 Bravo reality series Jersey Belle. That story was then turned into a screenplay by Ryan Engle, who wrote the screenplays for other action flicks such as Rampage, Non-Stop, The Commuter, and Breaking In. The African landscape itself also has a starring role in the film as well. Will Packer, the prolific Hollywood producer, is backing the project under his Will Packer Productions banner. Packer has backed big box office hits such as the Ride Along films, Straight Outta Compton, Girls Trip, and Stomp the Yard.
Editor's Note: This piece was updated on October 8 to include details on the film's streaming release.
Is There A Trailer for Beast?
Universal Pictures released a trailer for Beast on May 25th. The trailer starts with beautiful scenes of landscape and wildlife as Jimmy Cliff’s cover of “I Can See Clearly Now” plays. Of course, the song abruptly cuts out as Elba’s Dr. Samuels and his family come across a horribly injured man who has been attacked by a lion. The music turns ominous and surreal as the party surveys a village of people who have been mauled by the beast. The massive and terrifying lion itself is also shown and quickly makes it clear why this movie has an R rating. When talking with Jimmy Kimmel, Elba explained that the massive lion was CGI and was based loosely on the now extinct barbary lion. The trailer also gives audiences a good look at Elba's range in this film.
Is Beast Playing in Theaters?
Beast was released in theaters on August 19th. Though if you wanted to check out the man vs. beast tale on the big screen and haven't had the chance to yet, you may be too late. Luckily you'll be able to watch the film in other ways.
Can You Stream Beast?
Beast is now available to stream on Universal's own streaming service, Peacock, so if you're a Premium subscriber or a Premium Plus subscriber, you'll be able to watch the film from the comfort of your living room. A Premium membership will cost you $4.99 a month while the Premium Plus is priced at $9.99 a month, annual plans are the way to go if you want to save money, with Premium costing $49.99 a year and Premium Plus costing $99.99 for a year. As was the case with several other Universal releases this year such as Michael Bay's Ambulance, Robert Eggers' The Northman, and Scott Derrickson's The Black Phone, Beast is on the service around 49 days after it hit theaters
With an R rating for language and violence, Beast may not be the movie for everyone, but anyone looking for a tense and violent 93-minute survival flick may want to check it out.
Can You Buy Beast on DVD or Blu-ray?
Beast will be available to purchase on Blu-ray and DVD on October 11.
More Films Like Beast
The Ghost and the Darkness - Starring Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer, The Ghost and the Darkness is another story of aggressive man-eating lions. Based loosely on real events from the late 1800s, The Ghost and the Darkness tells the story of two lions, the “Tsavo man-eaters”, that terrorized a construction project in East Africa. William Goldman, the screenwriter behind Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the Presidents Men (not to mention the author of novel The Princess Bride), wrote the script for The Ghost and the Darkness.
Jaws - It’s hard to imagine talking about suspense movies with killer animals without bringing up Jaws. This 1975 classic starring Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss pits a sheriff and his beach community against a violent man-eating shark and forces the town to choose between taking responsible safety measures and denying the problem for the sake of encouraging tourism. The impact of this Steven Spielberg directed hit can’t be understated. It not only rocketed Spielberg and the concept of the “summer blockbuster” to superstardom, it also made sharks one of the most terrifying creatures people could imagine, despite how rare shark attacks actually are. The perfect atmosphere, the fact that the shark is only rarely seen, and the tense soundtrack all combined to make one of the best suspense movies ever made.