David Farnor | On 09, Jul 2024

Netflix continues to add more members to The Thursday Murder Club, and the names are only getting bigger and bigger.

The film, which was announced in April, is based on the book by Richard Osman and is the first in a series of novels. It follows a group of friends in a retirement home who gather to solve murders for fun, but find themselves caught in a real case.

In a partnership with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin studios, which picked up the rights to the first book in 2020, the new film is directed by Chris Columbus. He has wasted no time in assembling a star-studded list of names to go in front of the camera, with Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan and Sir Ben Kingsley all lined up to star. Mirren will play ex-spy Elizabeth, Kingsley will play ex-psychiatrist Ibrahim and Brosnan will play former union activist Ron, alongside Celia Imrie as ex-nurse Joyce.

Now, joining them will be David Tennant (Doctor Who, Inside Man), Daniel Mays (Atonement, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget), Naomi Ackie (Lady Macbeth, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker), Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes, The Crown), Henry Lloyd-Hughes (Anna Karenina, Chevalier), Richard E Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Withnail and I), Tom Ellis (Lucifer, Players), Geoff Bell (RocknRolla, Kingsman: The Secret Service), Paul Freeman (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Hot Fuzz), Sarah Niles (Ted Lasso, The Sandman) and Ingrid Oliver (Doctor Who; Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging),

Production is currently underway.

 

Netflix orders star-studded The Thursday Murder Club film

27th April 2024

Netflix is setting up The Thursday Murder Club and has invited a host of star-studded actors join it.

The new film is based on the book from Richard Osman, which was published in 2020 and has been followed by The Man Who Died Twice, The Bullet That Missed and The Last Devil To Die. Steven Spielberg reportedly bought the rights to the first book in 2020, and now the film is taking shape, as part of an ongoing partnership between Spielberg’s studio, Amblin, and Netflix – which includes the upcoming Carry-On, starring Jason Bateman and Taron Egerton.

Chris Columbus will direct the film, with Jennifer Todd producing and Holly Bario, Jeb Brody and Eleanor Columbus exec-producing.

The story follows a group of friends in a retirement home who gather to solve murders for fun, but find themselves caught in a real case. Netflix has assembled an impressive cast to play them including Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan and Sir Ben Kingsley. Mirren will play ex-spy Elizabeth, Kingsley will play ex-psychiatrist Ibrahim and Brosnan will play former union activist Ron.

Osman commented: “I’m so proud of this book, so it is a dream to see The Thursday Murder Club in such incredible hands. From Chris Columbus, to Amblin to Netflix, there are geniuses everywhere I look. And what a cast. I’m pinching myself.”

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