Idris Elba was all smiles as he posed on the star-studded red carpet at the Gladiator II premiere at Leicester Square in London on Wednesday night. 

The actor cut a dapper figure in an eye catching black shirt which boasted a satin panel on the front. 

Idris added a smart bow tie to the look and also wore a pair of black trousers and patent lace up shoes.  

The Luther star beamed for cameras as he rocked greying facial hair and accessorised with a chunky watch. 

Idris stopped to pose with Top Boy actor Riaze Foster, who dressed to impress for the night in a black tuxedo. 

Idris Elba was all smiles as he posed on the star-studded red carpet at the Gladiator II premiere at Leicester Square in London on Wednesday night

The actor cut a dapper figure in an eye catching black shirt which boasted a satin panel on the front

Gladiator II stars Paul Mescal as the former heir to the Roman Empire Lucius Verus, who is forced into slavery and eventually pushed to fight in the Colosseum in an effort to restore glory.

Early review from critics have called Gladiator II the ‘best movie of the year’ and a ‘true epic’ as they hailed Paul and Denzel Washington’s performances. 

With Russell Crowe’s legendary Maximus long-since ᴅᴇᴀᴅ and buried, it is vengeful Lucius (Paul) who must fight for his liberty in the film after being taken into slavery and ripped away from his wife and daughter by general Marcus (Pedro Pascal).

It comes after Idris revealed that he wants to settle in Africa within a decade.

The actor wishes to help bolster their film industry and is opening film studios in Zanzibar and Ghana’s capital Accra.

Idris – whose mother is from Ghana and father is from Sierra Leone – was born in Hackney in east London.

Last month, he told the BBC: ‘I would certainly consider settling down here — not even consider; it’s going to happen.

‘I think I’ll move in the next five, ten years, God willing. I’m here to bolster the film industry. That is a ten-year process. I won’t be able to do that from overseas. I need to be in-country, on the continent.’

Idris added a smart bow tie to the look and also wore a pair of black trousers and patent lace up shoes

Idris stopped to pose with Top Boy actor Riaze Foster, who dressed to impress for the night in a black tuxedo

Paul stars as the former heir to the Roman Empire Lucius Verus in the new blockbuster Gladiator II 

‘I’m going to live in Accra, I’m going to live in Freetown [the capital of Sierra Leone], I’m going to live in Zanzibar. I’m going to try and go where they’re telling stories – that’s really important.’

He added that he thinks it is vital for Africans to play a key part in all areas of the film-making process including in financing, distribution and marketing. 

Read More Idris Elba shares ‘big dreams’ to build futuristic eco-city in Sierra Leone and reveals reason behind innovative plans on the island off coast of Africa

He said that in the current sector if you watch films that have anything to do with Africa all you will see is ‘trauma, war, how we were slaves’ but that in reality if you travel there you see that that is not true. 

In March Idris revealed plans to transform a remote island off the coast of Sierra Leone, the West African nation where his father was born, into an eco-friendly ‘smart city’.

The British star said he wants to make Sherbro Island an ‘afro-dynamic eco-city’ – an urban hub for the whole of Africa combining sustainability, community and economic growth.

Sherbro Alliance Partners (SAP) say the development will be done while protecting its ‘delicate ecosystem’, with the 230 sq mile island covered with mangrove forests and an important nesting site for sea turtles.

Home to just 40,000 people, most of whom work in fishing and rice farming, the actor hopes to cultivate economic growth and bring prosperity to the former British colony.

The development scheme has not got a specified budget but is likely to run into the billions of dollars, with SAP seeking out investment and Mr Elba admitting that it is a ‘big dream’.

‘Never in my lifetime would I have thought I could build the foundation for a new smart-city… I’m not qualified for that,’ he told the BBC. ‘But I am qualified to dream big.’