by Richard Osman’s popular series of novels, The Thursday Murder Club, will soon be making the leap to the big screen with the help of a Hollywood heavyweight.
Apparently not content with dominating television by hosting series on shows such as Pointless and House of Games, Osman turned his attention to writing a few years back, releasing his first novel, The Thursday Murder Club, in autumn of 2020.
To say it was a hit is an understatement. Selling thousands in its first few days of release, Osman’s debut quickly shot to number one on the Sunday Times bestseller list. By the time the dust had settled, The Thursday Murder Club had become the best-selling first novel of all time.
Sequels were quickly announced and released and before long, there was talk of a big screen adaptation too – but what’s happening with The Thursday Murder Club movie?
Read on for all the important details we have so far.
When is the movie The Thursday Murder Club released?
Unfortunately, the release date for the movie The Thursday Murder Club is currently unknown.
According to a tweet from Osman posted in March 2023, the movie was supposed to be filmed “later this year” but that didn’t happen due to various Hollywood acting and writing strikes.
Some very exciting developments with #ThursdayMurderClub movie this week. Fingers firmly crossed we will be filming later this year 🤞🤞🤞
— Richard Osman (@richardosman) March 29, 2023
Speaking to radio host Chris Evans in November 2023, Osman provided an update but it was not positive. “He was supposed to be filming now, and of course, it wasn’t because of the strikes,” he told Evans, indicating that this had an impact on cast negotiations.
In a follow-up chat on Loose Women, Osman revealed that the film would go before cameras in 2024.
Appearing on the ITV show, he was asked about working with Steven Spielberg who has the rights to make the film and said: “We’re making the film next year. It’s being produced, we’re casting together at the moment.
“I spend my life at people shouting out the names of the people they want there for me.”
But he admitted: “I haven’t met big Steve yet. We’ve zoomed in. It’s all right. You know your director on this show? Just very similar, but with a slightly bigger house .”
What is the plot of the movie Thursday Murder Club?
Set in the fictional town of Fairhaven in Kent, The Thursday Murder Club tells a detective story set in a sleepy but luxurious retirement community.
It follows four pensioners – Joyce Meadowcroft, Ron Ritchie, Elizabeth Best and Ibrahim Arif – who come together to solve a murder case when a property developer is killed under mysterious circumstances.
The novel has spawned several sequels so far, including the 2021 follow-up The Man Who Died Twice, The Bullet That Missed in 2022 and The Last Devil To Die released in September 2023.
After this latest release, Osman has said that he will be taking some time off from the series to start some new books but he has assured that the adventures of Elizabeth, Ron, Joyce and Ibrahim will continue after a bit give them breath. .
Who stars in the movie The Thursday Murder Club?
Following the acquisition of a BBC Radio 4 adaptation, news of a film version of Osman’s story began to trickle out shortly after the release of the first book in the series.
Hollywood icon Steven Spielberg has reportedly won a bidding war for the film’s worldwide rights and was set to make a film adaptation through his Amblin production company.
Since that news came to light, various reports have mentioned the Jurassic Park filmmaker as a producer or director of the film, with his exact role yet to be officially confirmed.
Back in March 2020, Mamma Mia! It has been confirmed that director Ol Parker was in charge of the project but the delays that followed may have led to a change behind the scenes.
Cut to November 2023 and Osman confirmed that the project now has “an American director, but an American director who has worked a lot in England”, which will remove the British-born Parker from the director’s chair. Could this new watchmaker be Spielberg?
Speaking about his cast, Osman went on to explain that “it will be entirely English, which is not to say that all the actors will be English.” However, he said the exact names that will appear as his OAP sleuths are yet to be confirmed due to fallout from the strikes.
“You know what actors are. They have windows where available. And suddenly the window closes, so it changes,” he told Virgin Radio. “People are still negotiating.”
Is there a trailer for the movie The Thursday Murder Club?
Unfortunately, there is no trailer for The Thursday Murder Club just yet but as soon as the production starts, we are sure that we will start to see something soon.
The movie Thursday Murder Club is coming soon.
