Agatha Christie is one of the most successful mystery novelists in history, and now another of her novels will get the big screen treatment again. The Imitation Game director, Morten Tyldum to helm And Then There Were None.
Deadline reported the news that 20th Century Fox has acquired the rights to the story, and that they've secured Morten Tyldum to direct the adaptation of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.
The book is the all-time best selling mystery, with over 100 million copies sold. The 1939 novel, also known as Ten Little Indians, tells the story of 10 strangers who head to a mansion on a secluded island after believing they were invited by various acquaintances, or a stranger named U.N. Owen.
The party commences once they all arrive, but soon, each of them is accused of a murder that they’ve gone unpunished for, and the group is forced to fend for their lives as members begin to die one by one. They come to realize that a member of their party is responsible and go through a series of wrong turns, red herrings and cryptic clues to find out who’s slowly killing them off.
Since its publication the book has been adapted into dozens of television, film, radio, theater and even video game game adaptations. And it’s been used as the inspiration behind several films and TV episodes. Including the Family Guy episode titled "And Then There Were Fewer", where 10 of the main and supporting characters get invited to a creepy island manse only to be murdered one at a time.
It should be noted that Agatha Christie was no slouch in the novelist department. She wrote over 200 stories, many of which feature recurring detective characters such as Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot and Tommy & Tuppence. Many of her stories have been given film adaptations, whether on TV or the big screen.
Morten Tyldum is building quite a career for himself as a director of high quality, Academy Award worthy material. His 2011 film Headhunters became the highest grossing movie in Norwegian history, and helped launch Game of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau’s profile. He helmed The Imitation Game next. The film, which starred Benedict Cumberbatch, went on to be nominated for 125 awards and win 52 of them, including the Oscar for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay. Tyldum is now working on Passengers with Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt in the lead roles.
Well, there’s almost no way this film won’t be intense, thrilling and just plain jump-scare fun to watch for fans of good mysteries. I imagine a cast filled with highly famous faces, doing mental battle with one another. And, I’d like a diverse cast, too. Let’s see some Denzel Washington, Gael Garcia Bernal, Salma Hayek and (or) John Cho in this movie, to really mix it up. There’s actually no word on casting yet, but if Benedict Cumberbatch could join Morten Tyldum again, I think that would be perfect. As long as his character doesn’t turn out to be the villain. I don’t think the Cumberbitches would like that very much.
