Jamie Lee Curtis Steps Into Angela Lansbury’s Iconic Role For ‘Murder, She Wrote’ Film

Universal is officially cracking the case on Murder, She Wrote, and it looks like Jamie Lee Curtis is ready to pick up the magnifying glass.

According to sources, the studio is moving forward with a feature film adaptation of the beloved classic TV series, with Pitch Perfect director Jason Moore set to take the helm. Curtis, an Oscar winner and genre icon in her own right, is attached to star as Jessica Fletcher, the role made legendary by the late Angela Lansbury.

The screenplay comes from Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, based on the long-running CBS series created by Peter S. Fischer along with Richard Levinson and William Link. Producing duties will be handled by Amy Pascal, with Phil Lord, Chris Miller, and Aditya Sood also on board via Lord Miller’s first-look deal with Universal. The project is being overseen at the studio by SVP of Development Lexi Barta and Director of Production Development Jacqueline Garell.

For anyone even casually familiar with television history, Murder, She Wrote is about as iconic as it gets. Lansbury starred as Jessica Fletcher from 1984 to 1996 in one of the most successful and enduring shows ever made. Her character—a retired schoolteacher turned bestselling mystery author—just happened to have an uncanny ability to stumble into murders and solve them with sharp intuition and quiet determination. While Cabot Cove, Maine served as the show’s home base, Fletcher’s travels often expanded the series well beyond its cozy seaside roots.

The show was a ratings juggernaut and an awards darling, earning 41 Emmy nominations over its run. Lansbury herself was nominated for Lead Actress in a Drama Series every single year the show aired—an astonishing feat, made even more baffling by the fact that she never actually won. She would later reprise the role in four TV movies, cementing Jessica Fletcher as one of television’s most beloved characters.

Jason Moore seems like an interesting and potentially inspired choice to direct. Best known for comedies like Pitch Perfect and Sisters, Moore has a busy slate ahead. He’s directing the pilot and executive producing Elle, the Legally Blonde prequel series for Prime Video, and in April will stage the revival of the Tony-winning Avenue Q in London’s West End. He’s also attached to direct adaptations of Steven Rowley’s The Guncle and Emma Straub’s This Time Tomorrow.

As for writers Angelo and Schuker Blum, they previously penned Dumb Money, the 2023 film about the GameStop short squeeze, and have more projects on the way, including Rise, which centers on the trailblazing U.S. women’s national basketball team.

No release date has been announced yet, but between Curtis stepping into a legendary role and Universal backing the project, this Murder, She Wrote revival is already shaping up to be one mystery worth solving.