Celia Imrie announced as lead in Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club film

Imrie will join A-listers Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan and Ben Kingsley

Richard Osman has announced that the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel actor Celia Imrie has been cast for the film adaptation of his bestselling mystery book, The Thursday Murder Club.

Imrie will join the previously announced lineup of starry A-listers Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan and Ben Kingsley, who will play the leading characters in the story that follows a group of friends living in a community that find themselves at the centre of a murder investigation.

Author and Pointless presenter Osman revealed the final casting arrangements in the latest episode of The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, telling listeners that the character Joyce, who was the only lead left to announce, will be played by Imrie.

“Joyce is Celia Emrie, which I’m very excited about. She’s so mischievous,” he said.

Osman said he will ‘thrilled’ that Emrie would be joining the starry lineup of actors (Getty Images)

In April, Osman revealed that Chris Columbus, whose credits include the first two Harry Potter films, as well as Mrs Doubtfire and Home Alone, will be in the director’s chair. Meanwhile, he announced that Mirren will depict Elizabeth, Kingsley will play Ibrahim and Brosnan will also star as Ron, but said that producers were still negotiating who would play Joyce.

The Thursday Murder Club is set in the fictional Kentish town of Fairhaven, where four friends try to solve the mysterious and suspicious murder of a property developer. The 2020 book is the fastest-selling adult crime debut in recorded history, and the fifth book in the series is planned for production next year.

‘The Thursday Murder Club’ leading cast (Getty Images)

The Thursday Murder Club sold 45,000 copies in its first three days of release, and the following series has gone on to spawn 2021’s The Man Who Died Twice, 2022’s The Bullet That Missed and 2023’s The Last Devil to Die, which have collectively sold more than 10 million copies globally.

The movie rights were subject to a competitive bidding war, with Amblin Partners winning against 13 other studios.

Osman said that the cast would be filming this summer in England.