Remember Chris Columbus? He was the director critics loved to hate in the ‘90s and early aughts. Columbus directed a bunch of highly successful movies, “Home Alone,” “Home Alone 2,” “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” “Stepmom.”
All this to say that Columbus is back and he’s been tapped to direct “The Thursday Murders Club.” Helen Mirren, Sir Ben Kingsley, and Pierce Brosnan are in talks for three of the four lead roles. The script was penned by Ol Parker, who wrote both of the “Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” movies (via TheInsneider)
Based on Osman’s bestselling book of the same name, The Thursday Murder Club follows four residents of a retirement community who investigate cold cases for fun. But when a shady local developer is found dead and a mysterious photograph is left next to the body, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case. As the bodies begin to pile up, they must put their unorthodox but brilliant methods to the test to catch the killer before it’s too late.
Last week, I mentioned Steven Spielberg having flirted with the idea of directing “The Thursday Murder Club,” back when Meryl Streep and Viola Davis were circling two of the lead roles. Spielberg decided not to helm the film, and ended up with an executive producing credit instead — both actresses subsequently dropped out.
Columbus and Spielberg go way back, all the way to the ‘80s — that’s when they teamed-up on” Gremlins” as writer and producer, respectively. Spielberg has now entrusted his buddy to steer the ship in the right direction with this long-gestating project of his.
Columbus last directed “The Christmas Chronicles” and its sequel for Netflix. His output from the last 20 years isn’t anything to write home about and includes “Pixels,” “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” “I Love You Beth Cooper,” and “Rent.”