The news of Disney reimagining Agatha Christie’s beloved Miss Marple as a thirty-something has not gone over very well with fans. In fact, the response has been almost universally negative. I’m pleasantly surprised. Normally, people get very hot and bothered about book adaptations recently released, but to paraphrase Shawshank Redemption, rarely are road blocks thrown up to stop the old. Miss Marple may prove to be an exception.
According to Deadline, the British company, Chorion, holding the rights to Agatha Christie’s material, has come out of nowhere and released a statement saying the deal is not done. Could this be a reconsidering of the idea after the horrid reaction or just a last minute bargaining stance to squeeze a bit more money out of Disney? The studio certainly seemed under the impression everything was good to go two days ago when they went so far as to announce producers, but no Christie-penned crime is ever solved until the last act.
If Agatha Christie were alive today, she’d likely be very miffed over this potential reboot. The 1974 adaptation of Murder On The Orient Express received wonderful reviews and was nominated for six Academy Awards, and still, the author complained about Albert Finney’s moustache.
I’m all for Agatha Christie novels being made into movies, but if the film version doesn’t bother celebrating the source material, why even make it?
Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, the NBA and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.
