Universal will release its new film version of “Murder, She Wrote” starring Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis on Dec. 22, 2027.
Curtis will play the beloved small town crime writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher famously played by Angela Lansbury on the hit CBS TV series that aired from 1984 to 1996. “Pitch Perfect” filmmaker Jason Moore will direct from a screenplay by “Dumb Money” writers Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo.
Phil Lord, Chris Miller and Amy Pascal, who most recently worked together on the box office hit “Project Hail Mary,” will produce.
With its appeal to older audiences who saw Lansbury in the 1980s and 1990s, “Murder, She Wrote” will serve as counterprogramming during the 2027 holidays against tentpole films including “Avengers: Secret Wars” from Disney and Marvel Studios and Warner Bros.’ “The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.” Other films set for December 2027 include Sony’s animated film “Buds” and an untitled romantic comedy directed by Nancy Meyers and starring Kieran Culkin, Michael Fassbender, Jude Law and Penélope Cruz.
“Murder, She Wrote” is one of several ’80s TV classics Hollywood is trying to revive for the big screen. Universal is also developing a revival of “Miami Vice” from “Top Gun: Maverick” director Joseph Kosinski for an August 2027 release, while Amazon MGM is adapting the Saturday morning cartoon “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” into a live-action film set for release this June.
Curtis, who won an Oscar in 2023 for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” most recently appeared in the Disney legacyquel “Freakier Friday” and in James L. Brooks’ “Ella McCay.” She also starred in and produced the psychological thriller “Sender,” which premiered at SXSW this month.
