Idris Elba officially joins Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim

After being in talks for a couple of weeks now, Idris Elba has officially joined the cast of Gullermo Del Toro's epic humans vs. aliens pic, Pacific Rim. He'll be playing Sensi, a role that was initially conceived for Tom Cruise. The film is set to be a big budget spectacle, detailing how humans come together and use futuristic weaponry including mechs to battle an alien invasion attacking from both sides of the pacific rim. Charlie Hunnam(Sons of Anarchy) is set to star, with production beginning in November.

This is clearly the biggest jump in Elba's career yet, as his part was considered important enough to have Tom Cruise in consideration. The Wire might have put him on the map, but afterwards he's taken all the right steps to make a name for himself as a film actor to watch. He scored a surprising hit with the offbrand stalking flick, Obsessed. This summer saw him in his most high profile film yet in Thor, and he's currently shooting Prometheus for Ridley Scott. Elba was also one of the frontrunners to head up Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, but that appears to have gone to Jamie Foxx.