Jamie Lee Curtis is ready to solve some murders as the Oscar-winning actress confirms she will be starring in the much-anticipated Murder, She Wrote reboot.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight on the red carpet world premiere of Freakier Friday on Thursday (July 24), Curtis was asked if there was any truth to Deadline‘s report that Universal was working on a reboot of the beloved Angela Lansbury-starring crime series.
“Oh, it’s happening,” Curtis confirmed. “We’re a minute away, but yeah, [I’m] very excited. Very excited. But I’m tamping down my enthusiasm until we start shooting. I have a couple of other things to hustle, but then I’ll get to enjoy that work.”
Curtis has been extremely busy lately. In addition to reprising her role as Tess Coleman in the Freaky Friday sequel, she’s also set to star in James L. Brooks’s upcoming film Ella McCay and will star in and produce the Prime Video series Scarpetta alongside Nicole Kidman.
In December, Deadline‘s The Dish first reported that Curtis was in talks to take over the role of Jessica Fletcher, the middle-aged mystery writer and amateur sleuth made famous by Lansbury on the original CBS series that aired for 12 seasons between 1984 and 1996. Lansbury died in her sleep just five days before her 97th birthday on October 11, 2022.
The original series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson, and William Link, became one of the most popular shows on television, averaging 30 million viewers per week at the height of its popularity, according to the LA Times. Lansbury also earned 12 Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
This isn’t the first time a Murder, She Wrote reboot has been in the works. In October 2013, Deadline reported that NBC was planning to revive the series with Octavia Spencer in the lead role, playing a “hospital administrator and amateur sleuth who self-publishes her first mystery novel.”
At the time, Lansbury told the Associated Press, “I think it’s a mistake to call it Murder, She Wrote, because Murder, She Wrote will always be about a Cabot Cove and this wonderful little group of people who told those lovely stories and enjoyed a piece of that place, and also enjoyed Jessica Fletcher, who is a rare and very individual kind of person.”
Producers later decided Spencer’s character would not be named Jessica Fletcher. However, before the project moved any further, on January 21, 2014, it was reported that the reboot would not be going forward.