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‘Mystery Fans Will Be Very Happy’: Everything We Know About Helen Mirren’s Hot New Book Adaptation

The film will be directed by Chris Columbus, who previously worked on the ‘Harry Potter’ films

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Mystery lovers, we have some new movie clues that we just can’t help but investigate. And when we tell you that nothing could have prepared us for what we uncovered, we mean it. After all, Richard Osman’s novel The Thursday Murder Club, being adapted by Netflix with Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren set to star in it, is just so juicy. To crack the case on what the plot is expected to entail, and when you can expect to stream it, keep scrolling! 

What is ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ about? 

The Thursday Murder Club is directed by Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire and Harry Potter) and produced by Jennifer Todd. 

It will follow Osman’s 2020 bestselling novel, which is centered around four people who live in a retirement home and solve murder cases for fun, until one day they unexpectedly get wrapped up in a real investigation that they need to figure out before it’s too late. 

“There’s a wonderful mystery at its core, so mystery fans will be very happy,” Columbus told Tudum by Netflix in May. “But thematically, it’s interesting that we’ve got four elderly people who are living in a retirement community and who are fascinated by death and murder. They are facing their own demise, yet at the same time, they are obsessed with studying cold cases. I fell in love thematically with that. It’s comedic, but it’s also very emotional.” 

Ben Kingsley as Ibrahim, Helen Mirren as Elizabeth and Pierce Brosnan as Ron in 'The Thursday Murder Club'
Ben Kingsley as Ibrahim, Helen Mirren as Elizabeth and Pierce Brosnan as Ron in ‘The Thursday Murder Club’Giles Keyte/Netflix

While the novel itself is the first in a five-book series, it’s unclear whether Netflix and Columbus plan to adapt the other four books, all of which were inspired by Osman’s mother’s own experience in a retirement home. 

“You just sit and chat with these people, and they’ve lived these extraordinary lives. You hear these amazing stories and gossip and wisdom,” Osman told Tudum. “You think, ‘These people are so overlooked.’ The idea that these people with their wisdom and their invisibility would be the perfect people to solve [a crime] is exactly where The Thursday Murder Club comes from. Take these people who are underestimated but who have these incredible skills, put them together and they can achieve anything.”

Todd echoed similar thoughts, telling Tudum, “I loved the characters, the story, their world. I think the richness of the characters speaks to a larger audience. They are such a delight. You want to be with them — and [the] murders are such fun to solve.” 

Meet the cast of ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ movie 

As mentioned above, Brosnan (GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies and Mamma Mia!) and Mirren (The Madness of King George, The Last Station and 1923) will star in the film as Ron, a former union activist, and Elizabeth, an ex-spy, respectively. The two previously worked together in Mobland

They will be joined by Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, Schindler’s List and Sexy Beast) and Celia Imrie (Nanny McPhee, Imagine Me & You and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), who will bring an ex-psychiatrist named Ibrahim and an ex-nurse named Joyce to life. 

Celia Imrie as Joyce, Ben Kingsley as Ibrahim, Helen Mirren as Elizabeth and Pierce Brosnan as Ron in 'The Thursday Murder Club'
Celia Imrie as Joyce, Ben Kingsley as Ibrahim, Helen Mirren as Elizabeth and Pierce Brosnan as Ron in ‘The Thursday Murder Club’Giles Keyte/Netflix

“This is the finest cast I’ve worked with since Potter,” Columbus said in that same conversation with Tudum. “They’re just so incredibly well-prepared, and it’s because they do everything. They do theater, they do television, they do film and they’ve developed those sorts of muscles.”

When does ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ come out? 

The Thursday Murder Club is expected to debut on Netflix on Thursday, August 28. It has a runtime of 1hr and 58min, and you can watch the trailer featuring Brosnan, Mirren and the rest of the cast below! 

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