(Left) Jamie Lee Curtis poses backstage with the Oscar® for Actress in a Supporting Role during the live ABC telecast of the 95th Oscars® at Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 12, 2023. (Right) Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher in ‘Murder, She Wrote.’ Photo courtesy of Universal Television.
Preview:
- Jamie Lee Curtis is circling the lead in the ‘Murder, She Wrote’ movie.
- Universal is driving the new development.
- If she signs, she’d take over the role made famous by Angela Lansbury on TV.
Murder mystery continues to be a popular genre on screens big and small. We have Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez and a raft of other famous faces in Hulu’s ‘Only Murders in the Building.’ The procedural likes of ‘Elsbeth’ forge ahead on network TV.
And bestriding the genre like a colossus spanning both sides is Rian Johnson, who continues to see success with his ‘Knives Out’ franchise, which stars Daniel Craig as detective Benoit Blanc and TV’s ‘Poker Face,’ in which Natasha Lyonne plays Charlie Cole, who has the ability to know when people are lying and keeps stumbling into murder mystery situations.
Yet back in the day (by which we mean the 1980s), the 800lb gorilla of mystery on TV was ‘Murder, She Wrote,’ with Angela Lansbury starring.
“She may be wrong. But frankly, we doubt it.”
76
12 SeasonsSeptember 30th, 1984
It’s a little surprising given the enduring popularity of the show (and the love for existing intellectual popularity to exploit), why it has taken this long for a movie to enter development. Yet the wheels got turning last year, when Universal began work on one, with Amy Pascal producing.
Now, according to Deadline, Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis is close to a deal to take the lead, though the site cautions that it’s not quite locked in yet.
What’s the story of ‘Murder She Wrote’?
Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher in ‘Murder, She Wrote.’ Photo courtesy of Universal Television.
For those who didn’t grow up in the 1980s or have somehow gotten this far in life not knowing the name Jessica Fletcher, ‘Murder She Wrote’ was a crime procedural drama series that kicked off on CBS in 1984.
It stars Lansbury as Fletcher, a seemingly mild-mannered crime writer who has a penchant for digging into mysteries of all kinds. Working and living primarily in the fictional town of Cabot Cove, Maine, she’s consistently underestimated by police and criminals and ends up solving many murders.
Her travels during the series –– which ran for 12 seasons –– have taken her all over the United States and abroad.
In that time, Lansbury was nominated for an Emmy every single year, and won various awards. She reprised the role in the four TV movies.
Lansbury said in the past that she’d have been open to making a comeback appearance, which would make for a fun cameo in any potential movie. But in a 2015 interview with Zap2It, she said it was no longer feasible:
“I think it would be a downer. In some way, we’d have to show her as a much older woman, and I think it’s better to maintain that picture we have in our mind’s eye of her as a vigorous person. I’m still pretty vigorous, especially in the garden, but if I wanted to transform myself back into the woman I looked like then, it would be ridiculous. And I can’t do that.”
It has since become even less feasible, as the acting legend died in 2022.
Related Article: Universal is Working on a Movie Adaptation of Classic Crime Series ‘Murder She Wrote’
Who is the team behind the new planned movie?
Producer Amy Pascal attends the Los Angeles Premiere of Amazon MGM Studios’ ‘Challengers’ at Regency Village Theatre on April 16, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images for Amazon MGM Studios.
Amy Pascal is a former Sony chairperson who has become a powerful and influential producer via her Pascal Pictures company.
She is a major player in any ‘Spider-Man’ movie having worked on them at Sony and has also produced the likes of ‘Little Women’, 2016’s ‘Ghostbusters’, and Steven Spielberg’s ‘The Post’.
On the writing front, we have Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, who got their start as reporters at the ‘Wall Street Journal’ and segued into dramatic writing on the staff of ‘Orange Is the New Black’.
They wrote last year’s GameStop share story movie ‘Dumb Money’ and have several scripts in development, including one about the GamerGate phenomenon which Pascal is also producing, and contributed writing to a new take on ‘The Wolf Man’ for Universal (though their script has since fallen by the wayside).
Where else can I see Jamie Lee Curtis?
Oscar® nominee Jamie Lee Curtis arrives on the red carpet of the 95th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 12, 2023.
Curtis is certainly enjoying a career renaissance between the return of the ‘Halloween’ franchise and particularly in ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once,’ which scored her the Best Supporting Actress Oscar last year.
She’s been winning further cinematic praise for her role in ‘The Last Showgirl,’ and on TV has been seen in the likes of ‘The Bear.’ Curtis is currently on screens in Prime Video maple syrup heist comedy drama ‘The Sticky.’
Coming up, she’s reprising the role of Tess Coleman in Disney sequel ‘Freakier Friday’ and will be seen in James L. Brooks’ comedy drama ‘Ella McCay.’
On the mystery front, she’s busy filming another Prime Video series, this one based on the Patricia Cornwell ‘Kay Scarpetta’ books, which also stars Nicole Kidman.
When will the ‘Murder She Wrote’ movie be on screens?
Universal has yet to announce anything resembling a release date for the movie –– that will likely have to wait until a director is attached and more deals are closed.
Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher in ‘Murder, She Wrote.’ Photo courtesy of Universal Television.
Other Movies based on TV Shows:
Buy ‘Murder, She Wrote’ On Amazon
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