Awesome news for Thomas Ikimi! I raved about his feature film debut way back in 2010 – the psych thriller, "Legacy" which also starred Idris Elba by the way, as Black Ops soldier Malcolm Gray who, having barely survived a botched mission in Eastern Europe, takes sanctuary in a Brooklyn motel room, brooding on the guilty legacy of his past actions.

Now Ikimi and Elba are teaming up again for a Fox hour-long drama series titled "The Crusaders," which the network has put into development.  

Ikimi, penned "The Crusaders" which follows "an extended family of second-generation Africans living in the USA who specialize in locating and returning valuable objects stolen from Africa during colonial occupation."

I chuckle as I type this, because this is an issue I’ve written about on this blog in the past, and which has been the subject of a few documentary reports I’ve shared. So, needless to say, I’m definitely in!

Elba will executive produce the project through his Green Door Pictures, along with Ikimi through T&T Studios and Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Dan McDermott via di Bonaventura Television.

This will be the second project Elba has set up at Fox TV – the first was the American adaptation of the hit British TV series he stars in, "Luther," which is currently in limbo after it was announced earlier this year that an appropriate lead actor had yet to be found (Elba isn’t starring in the American remake).

As of right now, Elba is attached to executive produce "The Crusaders," and not star in it. But, assuming Fox picks up the project beyond the current script commitment agreement, this would provide even further opportunities for black actors. 

I’m really looking forward to the possibilities this will present given the talent involved, as I really love the concept.

In the meantime, I think I’ll revisit the last time Elba and Ikimi worked together – the feature film "Legacy" which is currently on home video.