It’s been revealed that Netflix requested changes to be made to Luther: The Fallen Sun in order to make it ‘less scary’ after executives deemed it’s opening too grizzly for audiences.
Despite the original series often beginning with a gruesome murder, the streaming giant was concerned about the level of violence in the film’s first few scenes.
Luther writer Neil Cross has even spoken about the decision, saying he wanted it to be ‘more frightening’ initially.
Fans of the long-running crime drama will remember it’s notoriously dark moments, including the first episode which saw villain Alice Morgan kill her own parents.
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In the finale fifth series, the psychopathic astrophysicist gets away with murder once again, killing DS Catherine Halliday to gain the attention of her love-interest and main character, DCI John Luther.
Even the man who portrays the gritty London cop, Idris Elba, has admitted that he wants to chill out after filming because the BBC series it is so ‘heavy’.
He told LADbible: "It's a show that's really cerebral, it's dark, quite heavy - intense. So, after a day's filming for Luther I just want to go the pub... or go home and watch some Disney."
Despite this, it seems Netflix bosses were still worried about the film being too ‘frightening’ for audiences.
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The streaming giant was also concerned about the level of violence against women in the recently released film, as this had also been a criticism of the BBC series.
Because of this, the first victim in the Fallen Sun film was changed from a woman to a man.
Writer Neil Cross spoke about the decision, saying: “It’s been mentioned before that people are uncomfortable with the victimisation of women in Luther – not unfairly.”
He went on to add: “The odd thing, though, is that, if one were to do the maths, there are many, many more male victims in Luther than there are women.”
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Alluding to the all too real violence women often experience, the showrunner said that audiences mostly remember the female characters more because they ‘resonate and scare more deeply’.
However, Cross had initially planned to have a female victim as he thought this would be ‘more frightening’ and even wanted to argue with Netflix bosses about the request.
“There was a defiant part of me in the first draft of this”, which saw him say: “Oh f*** it – the victim is going to be a woman because that’s more frightening,” he admitted, adding:
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“But actually, they were right.”
Featured Image Credit: NetflixTopics: TV and Film, Idris Elba, Celebrity