Elba’s genie makes a point with his ears

IDRIS Elba plays a genie or ‘djinn’ in a new film, Three Thousand Years Of Longing, and as this picture shows, he has the ears to prove it.

The actor came to Cannes, where the film had its premiere, and explained that he and director George Miller had been keen to ‘avoid any tropes of the djinn, down to how he looks’.

Which is why the djinn looks just like Idris Elba in a hotel bathrobe… with Spock’s ears.

Elba’s genie turns up in the hotel room of an academic, played by Tilda Swinton, after she buys a lamp, offering her three wishes.

It’s a thought-provoking, if deeply left-field drama, based on a short story by novelist A. S. Byatt, which in turn is based on the 1001 Nights fable.

Reviews are mixed. Variety’s Peter Debruge made me snort my coffee with a joke about the shock of seeing the djinn’s djenitalia.

Both lead actors are Marvel film veterans, with Idris having played Heimdall in the Thor pictures and Swinton The Ancient One in Avengers:

Endgame and Dr Strange. And in Cannes, the pair agreed that the process is almost exactly the same, whether they are playing in a £300 million blockbuster or a £50 million arthouse movie.

‘From a performer’s perspective there is very little difference,’ Elba insisted. Swinton added: ‘As a performer, it doesn’t matter if it’s a big old battle or you are having a conversation in a towelling robe.’

She went on to joke that when Miller called her, she had been hoping for a blockbuster — like his last film Mad Max: Fury Road, or his next project, Mad Max: Furiosa.

And how about three wishes in real life? Well, along with wisdom and world peace, Idris wants an electric Ferrari and Tilda Swinton would like ‘a little bit more sleep’.