Lancaster movie maker joins forces with Sir Idris Elba on new action film series

Sir Idris Elba and Chee Keong Cheung

A Lancaster filmmaker has teamed up with one of the UK's best-known actors on a series of action movies hailing from West Africa.

Chee Keong Cheung and Sir Idris Elba have joined forces to develop movies rooted in African stories and talent, with the first scheduled to go into production later this year.

The project is a collaboration between Elba's 22Summers production company, Nile Media Entertainment Group from Nigeria and and Chee's Action Xtreme firm.

Star of hit TV shows The Wire and Luther, Sir Idris will executive produce alongside renowned film producer Gina Carter, and he will also direct one of the films.

Chee will direct the first film and produce for Action Xtreme, and Moses Babatope, a leading figure in the Nigerian film industry, will produce for Nile Motion Picture. 

Nile Media Entertainment Group, one of West Africa’s leading production, distribution, and exhibition companies, will handle African distribution.

The first film is scheduled to go into production in Quarter 4 of 2026, with the second in Quarter 1 of 2027.

Action Xtreme recently made the award winning Nigerian action thriller Son Of The Soil.

It won three awards at the 2025 Black Star International Film Festival in Ghana, won the Audience Choice Award at the 2025 Africa International Film Festival, and won two awards after being nominated for five gongs at the Best of Nollywood Awards.

Chee said: “Making Son of the Soil in Nigeria was an extraordinary experience and it made me appreciate the incredible depth of talent, stories and creative energy within Africa that deserves a global stage.

"What we are building with this collaboration is not just a slate of films, but a sustainable ecosystem where African action cinema can thrive.

"By combining local talent with international production expertise, we want to create commercially exciting films that travel worldwide while remaining authentically rooted in Africa.”

Sir Idris, who was knighted in the King's New Year's Honours List in 2026, said: “The journey continues, strengthening the African film industry is about collaboration and shared perspectives.

"I am fortunate to have these partners (Action Xtreme And Nile) and aim to have global success with this slate. Success breeds data and data breeds investment.”

Moses Babatope, Group CEO of The Nile Media Entertainment Group, said: “This partnership represents a significant step in our vision of building globally competitive African cinema.

"Action is one of the world’s most commercially powerful genres, yet Africa remains largely underrepresented in that space despite the incredible stories, talent, and creative energy that exist across the continent.”

Chee has a lifelong love of movie making and shot his very first action film in Lancaster as a teenager.

His family have run the Golden Dragon restaurant in the city centre for many years.

During his more than 20-year career in the film industry he has worked with many top names including Sir Ian McKellen and Richard Dreyfus, and his previous film credits include 'Bodyguard: A New Beginning', 'Underground' and the zombie action adventure 'Redcon-1' for which scenes were filmed in Lancaster.

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