The Thursday Murder Club Film Adaptation Land Screen Legends to Play the Series’ Fab Four
Richard Osman has announced 3 of the 4 lead cast members for the upcoming film adaptation of his globally bestselling, record-breaking The Thursday Murder Club, produced by Stephen Spielberg’s Amblin Partners.
Dame Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan and Sir Ben Kinglsey will star as Elizabeth, Ron and Ibrahim respectively, three of the septuagenarian crime-solving quad that readers around the world have taken to their hearts. Osman has also revealed Christopher Columbus is set to direct. The casting for Joyce is yet to be announced.
Richard says: 'It's my absolute dream cast, I'm thrilled. And I can't wait to tell Ron he's being played by James Bond'.
The book, first published in 2020, tells the story of four friends living in a retirement community who solve cold cases for fun. When a dodgy property developer is found dead, the gang find themselves in the middle of their first live crime. Amblin Partners scored worldwide rights to the film after a competitive auction that attracted interest from 14 studios.
Since then, The Thursday Murder Club series has become a global publishing phenomenon selling 10 million copies globally, over 7 million in the UK alone. It’s been called ‘the biggest thing in fiction since Harry Potter’ (The Guardian). The first book in the series, The Thursday Murder Club, went straight to #1, becoming the fastest-selling crime debut since records began, with Osman becoming the first debut author to hold the Christmas number one in 2020. The following three books in the series have been equally propulsive: each one going straight to #1 while setting new UK sales records. THE LAST DEVIL TO DIE (book 4 in the series) was the bestselling novel of 2023, with the entire series featuring in the top 20 titles of 2023. DEVIL usurped its predecessor, THE BULLET THAT MISSED, breaking Richard’s own record to become the fastest-selling adult hardback novel by a UK author.
Richard will be giving his crime-solving quad a rest for a year, and publication of the first instalment in his new series, WE SOLVE MURDERS, will launch on 12th September 2024. WE SOLVE MURDERS carries Osman’s trusted hallmarks which have made him such a beloved author: the brilliantly relatable characters, his trademark wit and warmth, and a fiendishly clever mystery – this time with some exciting new international settings. This new series explores what happens when you push yourself out of your comfort zone – and tells us that it’s never too late to start a new adventure.