Idris Elba Replaces Jamie Foxx In Harmony Korine's 'The Trap,' Al Pacino, Robert Pattinson, James Franco Also Join

The Trap, Harmony Korine

Harmony Korine’s “The Trap” is already going to be on our most anticipated list, presumably for next year, but the project just got that much more interesting. The movie is finalizing its major casting pieces, and three more actors have joined the cast: Idris Elba (“Luther,” and “The Wire” star) is evidently the new lead actor, and James Franco and Al Pacino are in supporting roles. They join the already cast Robert Pattinson and Benico Del Toro in additional supporting roles.

What does this mean for the originally cast Jamie Foxx? Well, he’s dropped out of the project and has been replaced by Elba. But his loss is really the “Thor” actor’s gain, as aside from TV work, Elba hasn’t scored many plum lead film roles yet, and this sounds like the part.

“The Trap” is set in Miami’s music scene and is a revenge and crime tale set within that milieu. Elba will play a gangster rapper, and Del Toro will play his best friend. THR says in “The Trap” Elba’s character “is at the top of his career and about to enjoy a triumphant night at the Grammy Awards when Slim (Del Toro) is released from prison after 14 years. Slim is determined to exact revenge after learning that Rico not only achieved fame and fortune but also married his girlfriend and raised Slim’s son as his own.” Del Toro’s uzi-wielding crew also features Pattison and Franco who sound like typical Korine character freaks. Pacino will play Del Toro’s parole officer.

Korine has recently said the film will loosely incorporate elements of the electro-rap music genre popularized by Gucci Mane. “You could almost say there’s some type of Florida trilogy going on,” he said, in reference to “Spring Breakers” and… perhaps another film in the works?

Focus Features are in talks to pre-buy the film before even a frame of it is shot. We’re guessing the film will draw on the hi/lo, beautiful/ugly aesthetics Korine so deftly navigated in his most commercial success so far, the aforementioned “Spring Breakers.” No word on a release date, but “The Trap” begins shooting very soon (Del Toro said March a few months back, but April sounds more feasible now). It’s possible we could see it at a film festival later this year, but that’s a tough turnaround. Even if it did pop up somewhere, you can almost guarantee a proper theatrical release date probably won’t hit until 2016.