Oct. 17 (UPI) -- The Cats movie adaptation is reportedly eyeing Idris Elba.
Variety confirmed the 46-year-old British actor is in final negotiations to join the big-screen version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical.
Elba would play Macavity, a master criminal, in the new film, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The character is the subject of the song "Macavity the Mystery Cat."
The Cats movie is being helmed by Tom Hooper, the Oscar-winning director of The King's Speech. The film will co-star Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift, Ian McKellen and James Corden.
Cats is based on the T.S. Eliot book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. Webber's musical debuted on the West End in 1981 and opened on Broadway the next year.
Elba is known for playing Stringer Bell on The Wire and John Luther on Luther. He will reprise Luther in a fifth season on the BBC, and is also slated to star in the Netflix series Turn Up Charlie.