'It's totally an homage to those great action comedies'

Idris Elba, John Cena and Priyanka Chopra Jonas share the joy of making 80s-throwback action comedy Heads Of State together - the film is on Amazon Prime Video now

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Heads Of State fills that summer blockbuster slot perfectly, and you can't go wrong with an action comedy, says The Wire legend Elba.

“This genre has given us some of the best movie moments across decades. You know, when you take these great characters and throw them into wild situations-it’s pure escapism,” he says. “One second you’re laughing, the next you’re on the edge of your seat. Heads Of State is really our love letter to those Nineties classics like Lethal Weapon and Beverly Hills Cop-big action, big characters.”

"It's totally an homage to those great Eighties/ Nineties action comedies like Die Hard and Arnold [Schwarzenegger]'s movies-where you've got humour mixed with explosions and heroes somehow surviving everything," agrees Chopra Jonas. "It's fast-paced and really captures that classic feel.”

t can be easy to despair at the state of world leadership right now, so imagining an alternative reality, where actors John Cena and Idris Elba are in charge, makes for a rather refreshing antidote to current politics.

New Prime Video movie Heads Of State sees London-born Elba, 52, play British Prime Minister Sam Clarke, "who is the yin to John Cena's American President yang", the Golden Globe winner says. “We really don't get along. Our countries are in this tense relationship when we meet at a press conference. Then suddenly, we get hijacked and have to work together to survive.”