Netflix announced that it has picked up the book-to-screen adaptation of The Thursday Murder Club by collaborating with Amblin Partners.
Amblin is a global film and television studio led by Steven Spielberg. In 2021, the two media heavyweights announced a distribution partnership that will cover multiple new feature films, including the upcoming thriller Carry On starring Jason Bateman and Taron Egerton.
The Thursday Murder Club by author Richard Osman follows a group of seniors in a retirement community who solve murder cases as a pastime until they get embroiled in actual incidents. Earlier this week, an initial cast was announced: Helen Mirren will play Elizabeth, an ex-spy; Ben Kingsley as Ibrahim, an ex-psychiatrist; and Pierce Brosnan as Ron, a former union activist.
A fourth actor to take on the character of Joyce, an ex-nurse, is yet to be announced.
Chris Columbus, known for his work in Home Alone, the first two Harry Potter movies, and Mrs. Doubtfire, is also attached to the project as writer and director.
Osman says of the news: “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.”
Osman first gained popularity as a television presenter on BBC quiz shows like Pointless and House of Games. The author says he came up with the idea for the book after visiting a retirement community “full of interesting people who’d led fascinating lives."
Even before its publication in 2020, The Thursday Murder Club was already taking the publishing industry by storm. It became the subject of a 10-way auction among publishers that landed Osman a seven-figure deal.
It then went on to sell over one million copies in the UK and spawn a series of murder mystery hits: The Man Who Died Twice (2021), The Bullet That Missed (2022), and The Last Devil to Die (2023), with a fifth book planned for release in 2025.