The Thursday Murder Club (film)

The Thursday Murder Club is an upcoming crime comedy film directed by Chris Columbus and written by Katy Brand, based on the 2020 novel of the same name by Richard Osman. It stars Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, and Celia Imrie as elderly amateur sleuths who attempt to solve a murder. David Tennant, Jonathan Pryce, Naomi Ackie, Daniel Mays and Henry Lloyd-Hughes also star.

The film was produced by Amblin Entertainment, and began filming in June 2024 at Shepperton Studios. It is set to be released by Netflix.

Premise
Septuagenarian amateur sleuths attempt to solve a murder. One was a spy, one was a nurse, one was a trade union official and one was a psychiatrist.

Cast

 * Helen Mirren as Elizabeth Best, a retired spy
 * Pierce Brosnan as Ron Ritchie, a former union leader
 * Ben Kingsley as Ibrahim Arif, an ex psychiatrist
 * Celia Imrie as Joyce Meadowcroft, a former nurse
 * David Tennant
 * Jonathan Pryce as Stephen Best, Elizabeth’s husband
 * Naomi Ackie as Donna De Freitas, a local police officer
 * Daniel Mays
 * Henry Lloyd-Hughes
 * Richard E. Grant
 * Tom Ellis
 * Geoff Bell
 * Paul Freeman
 * Sarah Niles as Patrice De Freitas, Donna’s mother
 * Ingrid Oliver (wife of author Richard Osman) as Joanna, Joyce’s daughter

Production
On March 5, 2022, it was announced that Ol Parker would write and direct a film adaptation of Richard Osman's debut novel The Thursday Murder Club for Amblin Entertainment, after Amblin acquired the worldwide rights to the project, with Jennifer Todd serving as producer and Osman serving as executive producer. In March 2023, Osman said filming was set to begin in September 2023 with Steven Spielberg as producer. In November 2023, it was reported that filming was scheduled to begin in March 2024. However, in February 2024 Osman said he was hopeful filming would commence in August 2024 after delays during the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes. In April 2024, Chris Columbus was named as director. A few days later, it was announced that the project had been acquired by Netflix.

Casting
In May 2024, Celia Imrie joined the cast as Joyce, with Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan and Ben Kingsley also part of the main cast. In June 2024, David Tennant, Jonathan Pryce, Naomi Ackie, Daniel Mays and Henry Lloyd-Hughes joined the cast. Katy Brand announced on Instagram that she had written the final screenplay for the film on June 18. In July 2024, Richard E. Grant, Ingrid Oliver and Tom Ellis were amongst those added to the cast.

Filming
Principal photography began on 27 June 2024, at Shepperton Studios, and is scheduled to wrap in September.