Relationships are hard on an easy day, much less on a day when caught up in a scandal like the one in Murder Mystery, the long-delayed action comedy mystery that was acquired as the second release under the newly-formed TWC-Dimension, which teamed up with Endgame Entertainment for the project. According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Guilt Trip director Anne Fletcher has been hired to direct, which sounds like a safe and not very groundbreaking decision. But I’m jazzed that this flick is gaining ground again, so I’ll withhold most judgment.
Murder Mystery will follow a pair who take the honeymoon cruise they never had as a last ditch effort to save their marriage, unwittingly becoming a part of a murder mystery after one of their cruise mates gets killed. To figure out the murderer’s identity, they travel across Europe, and there’s a good chance that trip puts their relationship back in order. This isn’t as refreshing as a happy couple, but at least they’re crossing countries as detectives rather than moping around a Whole Foods.
The screenplay, described as a comedic throwback to Agatha Christie novels, was written by James Vanderbilt, who wrote Zodiac and White House Down, as well as co-writing The Amazing Spider-Man and the upcoming RoboCop reboot. Quality notwithstanding, these movies are all many shades more complicated than anything on Fletcher’s resume, which also includes the romantic comedies The Proposal and 27 Dresses.
Here’s where Fletcher can make a difference. She started her filmmaking career with 2006’s Step Up, following a decade’s work in film dancing and choreography, which she kept up with until 2011’s Reel Steel. This will obviously be a more stylized film than anything Fletcher has made since Step Up, and seeing some well-designed foot chases and added movement to dialogue scenes would be key to keeping this fresh.
The film was formerly in the potential hands of Last King of Scotland director Kevin Macdonald and Shakespeare in Love helmer John Madden, and now it’s in the hands of Anne Fletcher. Let’s all hope the third director’s the charm.
"James' script is absolutely great. It's a modern version of the old ‘Nick and Nora’ movies... it has it all - suspense, romance, and humor,” stated Endgame Entertainment’s James D. Stern. All you really had to say was “Nick and Nora” and I was sold. Not that I wasn’t when Agatha Christie’s name was brought up, but Dashiell Hammett’s fictional creations are still one of the most memorable couples of all times. Let’s revisit some of their booziest moments below.
