Four Lions is a 2010 British satire and black comedy directed by Chris Morris (in his directorial debut) from a screenplay written by Morris, Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong. It stars Riz Ahmed, Kayvan Novak, Nigel Lindsay, Arsher Ali and Adeel Akhtar as a group of dim-witted jihadi terrorists who attempt to bomb the London Marathon. Production on Four Lions began in late 2008, with writing partners Armstrong and Bain hired to complete the screenplay. Prior to this, Morris spent several years researching for the film, conducting interviews with terrorism and religion experts, law enforcement, and British Muslims.