Luther: The Fallen Sun quietly became a massive streaming hit. The movie is a sequel to the BBC One crime drama Luther, which starred Idris Elba as the troubled Detective Chief Inspector John Luther and originally ran for five seasons between 2010 and 2019. Fallen Sun, which premiered on Netflix in February 2023, sees Elba return to the role for a new adventure that follows Luther breaking out of prison to track down a dangerous serial killer.
Netflix has released their first-ever Engagement Report, sharing comprehensive viewership data for the first half of 2023, between January and June. The report reveals that Luther: The Fallen Sun amassed a staggering total of 209.7 million hours viewed during that span of time, making it the second most-watched movie during the period behind the Jennifer Lopez action-thriller The Mother. Fallen Sun is the 20th highest-ranked title on the overall chart, which combines movies and television shows.
Will More Luther Be On the Way?
So far, Netflix hasn’t announced an official follow-up to the Idris Elba movie, either as a feature or a television season. However, given the fact that the movie performed so extraordinarily well, even by the standards of a global Netflix release, it seems probable that discussions are being held about the franchise’s continuation on the streaming service. Elba has previously expressed interest in making another Luther movie, which could also help the project move forward.
The Luther: The Fallen Sun ending does leave the door open for more stories to be told in the universe. Given his heroic acts throughout the movie, it is implied that Luther is being offered a job with MI5 rather than being forced to conclude his prison sentence. This setup could be fodder for any number of new stories in the Luther universe, perhaps taking after White Collar and having Luther serve the rest of his sentence by working with MI5 under certain restrictions.
At least one follow-up to Luther: The Fallen Sun seems entirely likely, given Netflix’s track record for streaming franchises. Typically, any classic show that has been revived or rebooted by the platform has been given at least two seasons, including Arrested Development, Fuller House, Black Mirror, and One Day at a Time. While there is less precedent for feature-length movies based on television properties, Fallen Sun‘s success seems like an undeniable bargaining chip for the franchise’s future.
Luther: The Fallen Sun
Luther: The Fallen Sun brings back Idris Elba’s gifted detective after the events of BBC’s five-season crime show Luther, created by Neil Cross. With Andy Serkis playing the manipulative villain David Robey and Cynthia Erivo as DCI Odette Raine, the 2023 movie wraps up Luther’s story with his attempt to stop a streak of murders and clean his name in the process.
- Release Date
- February 24, 2023
- Director
- Jamie Payne
- Cast
- Idris Elba , Cynthia Erivo , Andy Serkis , Dermot Crowley
- Rating
- R
- Runtime
- 129 minutes
- Genres
- Crime , Drama , Mystery
- Writers
- Neil Cross
- Studio(s)
- Netflix
- Distributor(s)
- Netflix
