Pierce Brosnan
Netflix has unveiled the first trailer for its highly anticipated adaptation of The Thursday Murder Club, based on the bestselling mystery novel by Richard Osman — and it’s nothi short of a cinematic treat.
The trailer teases a playful yet thrilling ride, featuring an elite cast led by Dame Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan. The pair, who recently appeared as a married couple in Ronan Bennett’s MobLand, reunite to lead a quartet of crime-solving pensioners in this darkly comic whodunnit.
Set in a quiet English retirement village, the film follows four unlikely sleuths — played by Mirren, Brosnan, Celia Imrie, and Sir Ben Kingsley — who spend their Thursdays reopening cold cases. But when a fresh murder occurs, their hobby turns deadly serious.
In one unforgettable scene from the trailer, a woman plummets from a window, a knife in her chest. The group gathers around a bulletin board covered in evidence, only to be interrupted by someone asking, “Isn’t this room normally reserved for jigsaws?” Mirren’s character coolly replies: “Not on a Thursday, no.”
Humour is cleverly interwoven with suspense throughout the trailer. “There’s been a murder, an actual murder!” exclaims Imrie’s character, barely containing her excitement. “Now we’ve got a real case to solve. Isn’t it wonderful? Obviously RIP and all that.”
Director Christopher Columbus (producer of the Harry Potter series) brings his signature storytelling flair to the project. From Mirren speeding through the streets in a silver sports car to shadowy confrontations and suspicious strangers, the trailer promises intrigue and high-stakes drama wrapped in quintessentially British charm.
The cast reads like a who’s who of British screen royalty: Richard E. Grant, Tom Ellis, David Tennant, Sir Jonathan Pryce, Daniel Mays, and Henry Lloyd-Hughes round out the supporting lineup.
The film is based on Osman’s breakout debut, which launched a series that quickly became a publishing phenomenon. The fourth book, The Last Devil to Die, hit platinum sales after its 2023 release, and his next novel, The Impossible Fortune, is due this September.
Netflix will premiere The Thursday Murder Club globally on August 28, 2025.