A new feature film based on the classic CBS crime drama Murder, She Wrote is in the works at Universal Pictures.
According to Variety, Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo — the screenwriters behind Sony’s new biographical comedy-drama film Dumb Money — are attached to pen a Murder, She Wrote movie for Universal. Spider-Man franchise producer Amy Pascal (who has a first-look deal with Universal) is also involved in the project.
Blum and Angelo signed on to write Murder, She Wrote prior to the ongoing Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike. They will not resume work on the film until after the union reaches a new agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Nevertheless, Blum and Angelo’s representatives have confirmed that the Murder, She Wrote movie is among the writers’ next projects.
Murder, She Wrote nears its 40th birthday
Murder, She Wrote was created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson, and William Link. Produced by Universal Television, the show originally aired on CBS for 264 episodes from 1984 to 1996. Muder, She Wrote subsequently returned for a tetralogy of television movies, which themselves aired on CBS from 1997 to 2003.
The series starred the late Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher, a mystery writer and amateur detective residing in the fictional town of Cabot Cove, Maine. In it, Jessica would regularly find herself helping to solve real-life murder cases, both in Cabot Cove and elsewhere.
Despite wrapping up its televised run 20 years ago, Murder, She Wrote has persisted in other mediums. Most notably, a series of spin-off novels has been running since 1989, with each book crediting the fictional Jessica Fletcher as a co-author. The 56th and most recent novel in the series hit shelves this past January, with two more entries planed for 2024 (which marks the show’s 40th anniversary).