Idris Elba’s ‘Hijack’ renewed for second season by Apple

A second season of Idris Elba‘s plane thriller Hijack has been greenlit by Apple TV+.

The first season landed on the streamer in June 2023, with Archie Panjabi, The Crown’s Ben Miles and Max Beesley also appearing in the show. It stars Elba as Sam Nelson, a business negotiator who is forced to use his skills to save the lives of passengers on board a hijacked plane making a seven-hour flight to London.

“Global audiences were on tenterhooks watching Idris’s riveting performance in Hijack, and we’re thrilled to be working again with 60Forty and Idiotlamp on an equally compelling Season 2,” said Jay Hunt, Apple TV+’s European creative director in response to the news [via Deadline].

“I was floored by the overwhelming audience response after Season 1,” added Elba, who also serves as an executive producer on the drama. “It’s top secret what new situation unfolds for Sam Nelson, but I can assure you we will bring the high octane back.”

Written by George Kay (Lupin, Criminal) and directed by Jim Field Smith (The Wrong Mans), who also executive-produced the series alongside Elba, the project forms part of the Suicide Squad actor’s first-look deal with Apple TV+ and his Green Door Pictures.

Earlier this month, Elba shared a new single demanding the UK government to take more concrete action to ban ‘zombie knives’ and machetes.

The new track, titled ‘Knives Down’, sees the actor put pressure on politicians in the UK to crack down on the number of knife-related crimes across the country, in a bid to reduce the number of young people losing their lives.

The song comes as part of Elba’s ‘Don’t Stop Your Future’ campaign, which works alongside local communities and famous brands to tackle serious violence in the UK.

Previously, the actor has released music in the form of collaborations, including work with James Blake and Jay-Z. Back in 2019, he also provided guest vocals to Wiley’s hit track ‘Boasty’.

More recently, however, it was confirmed that Elba features on the original soundtrack for Cyberpunk 2077‘s Phantom Liberty expansion, contributing his unreleased tracks to make up a whole new radio station in the game.

In other Idris Elba news, last October the actor revealed he had been going to therapy for the last year after forming some “unhealthy habits” to do with his work schedule.

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