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Vishal Bhardwaj to adapt Agatha Christie’s works for film franchise, first movie to go on floors early 2021
Vishal Bhardwaj is developing it as a franchise and the work on the script of the first film is in development. However, the name of her book that is being adapted has not been disclosed. The first film is scheduled to go on floors early 2021.
Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj has partnered with Agatha Christie Limited to develop a series of movie adaptations for Indian audiences. The work on script for first film of the franchise is currently in development, but name of her book being adapted first is yet to be announced. The first film is scheduled to go on floors early 2021. The cast is also yet to be finalised.
While iconic characters Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple and Tommy & Tuppence are identified with Agatha’s creations, a press statement claimed Vishal will create a new pair of lead investigators inspired from one of her famous stories. The first film will introduce a young heroine who is thrown into solving a murder, and teams up with an unlikely companion to unravel the case. Future films will follow the duo as they continue to investigate multiple murder mysteries.
Sharing his excitement at the development, Vishal said, “Agatha Christie had a tremendous skill of defining emotional chaos, dysfunctional relationships and the turmoil in her characters while engaging us in a riveting mystery. It is an honour to create an Indian franchise of a pair of young investigators looking to take over the world with their intelligence and charm. ACL have been such amazing partners and we are all excited to be on this journey.”
Vishal is best know for adapting literary classics. He has created some of the best films in Hindi cinema with the Shakespearean trilogy - Irrfan and Tabu-starrer Maqbool, Ajay Devgn-Kareena Kapoor-starrer Omkara and Shahid Kapoor-Shraddha Kapoor’s Haider.
Speaking about their first collaboration in India, James Prichard, the great grandson of the iconic writer and Chairman and CEO of Agatha Christie Limited, said, “I’m truly excited at the prospect of developing a new Agatha Christie film franchise in India, and am delighted to be partnering with Vishal, who is a multitalented and visionary filmmaker with a terrific track record for adapting works to create memorable pieces of cinema. He has also demonstrated a real passion and understanding of my great grandmother’s characters and stories and I very much look forward to seeing where this project takes us.” Basi Akpabio and Leo Dezoysa will serve as executive producers for Agatha Christie Limited on the new films.
Agatha’s characters have often been adapted for the silver screen and Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple are common favourites. Ali Fazal’s upcoming film Death on The Nile is also an adaptation of Agatha’s book by the same name.
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