Baltasar Kormákur directs the film set at Universal Brian Welk | May 18, 2021 @ 2:00 PM Getty Images Idris Elba will fight for his survival against the King of the Jungle in his new movie “Beast,” set for release next summer. Universal has set an August 19, 2022 release for “Beast,” which is directed by Baltasar Kormákur and finds Elba on a trip to South Africa, only for he and his two teenage daughters to be hunted by a massive rogue lion intent on proving that the savanna has but one apex predator. And it’s got a dope tagline too: Sometimes the rustle in the bushes actually is a monster.