Tag: chris-columbus

Opening in select theaters on August 22nd before premiering on Netflix beginning August 28th is ‘The Thursday Murder Club‘, which is based on the 2020 novel of the same name by Richard Osman.

Directed by Chris Columbus (‘Home Alone’ and ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’), the film stars an all-star cast that includes Oscar winner Helen Mirren (‘The Queen’), Pierce Brosnan (‘Die Another Day’), Oscar winner Sir Ben Kingsley (‘Gandhi’), Celia Imrie (‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’), David Tennant (‘Doctor Who’), Jonathan Pryce (‘The Two Popes’), Naomi Ackie (‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’), Tom Ellis (‘Lucifer’), and Richard E. Grant (‘Saltburn).

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan about their work on ‘The Thursday Murder Club’, their first reactions to the script, their characters, collaborating with director Chris Columbus on set, and working with the all-star cast.

You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Mirren, Brosnan, Sir Ben Kingsley, Celia Imrie, and director Chris Columbus.

Related Article: Pierce Brosnan Talks ‘The Last Rifleman’

Moviefone: To begin with, Helen, had you read the novel before you read the script, and what excited you about playing Elizabeth Best on screen?

Helen Mirren: Well, I had read the book. I’ read the book at least a year before, and thought, “Oh, my goodness, this would make a great movie.” I did feel that when I read the book. Immediately on the heels of that, I thought, “I’m the right person to play Elizabeth. I’m right. If there is a role in this for me, I think that’s my role.” But you have no idea what’s going to happen, and then I heard that Steven Spielberg had bought the rights to the script. Which on the one hand, was great news because we knew then the movie was going to be in wonderful hands. But at the same time, I thought, “Oh, my God, well, that means I’ll never get the role, because some much bigger movie star, than me will play it.” So, I was very pleased when they did approach me and I said yes, immediately, without any question. Then I don’t know if I read the script before that. I think maybe I hadn’t even read the script. I can’t remember. But possibly not. So, it didn’t come from the script for me. It came from the book.

MF: Pierce, what was your first reaction to the screenplay and why did you want to be a part of this project?

Pierce Brosnan: I wanted to be part of it because this is a beloved book, Ron Ritchie is a great character. It’s always good to be a surprise. Chris Columbus, you know, I played in his movies, ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ and ‘Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief’. The company of Sir Ben, Dame Helen, Celia, and it was a glorious summer, just the most magnificent time with this company of actors. You’re dealing with a great nuanced story of characters who are aging, who are dealing with the challenges of life, and who are alive and passionate about what they do. They solve cold cases and then ultimately a murder, right on their doorstep.

MF: Helen, what was your experience like working with director Chris Columbus for the first time?

HM: We all fell in love with Chris Columbus. But I would add, absolute encouragement and joyfulness, but also incredible expertise. We knew we were in the hands of an experienced filmmaker, who understood what was needed when he hadn’t got it yet, he went on until he did have it, but in the most encouraging ways. You never felt like you were failing but that you could trust him because he knew.

MF: Pierce, as you mentioned, you’ve worked with Chris Columbus before, so what was it like to reunite with him on this film and has his process as a filmmaker changed since the last time you worked together?

PB: I think we just picked up where we left off, on ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ and ‘Percy Jackson’. He’s a pal, and he’s such a great filmmaker. He knows where to put the camera, he knows how to tell the story, so when you walk in front of the camera, you feel like you’re on stage and your preparation, your homework, your study, and the words that you have to say, have a meaning and have a power. Then there’s also the great surprise element of your fellow actors, and being beside Ben and him playing Ibrahim Arif, we became a duo, and I didn’t really see that or think that when I was studying the script of preparing the work. It evolved just because of the positioning of the two of us by Chris, where you put your characters or how you find the blocking in a scene is very important. It can speak volumes, the way you move or the way you stand.

MF: Finally, Helen, what was it like for you to work with this incredible cast of actors, and is it fun making a movie with your friends?

HM: Oh, I mean, it could be a disaster making a movie with your friends. You know, it could be, because maybe you’ll get too cozy together and you’re not sufficiently objective about what you’re doing. There is a danger there. But I have to say with this group, who are absolutely friends, Ben, I knew when I was in my early 20s. Celia, I worked with it seems to me a few years ago, but she tells me it was 20 years ago. Pierce, I knew. But you never really know how the chemistry will come together at work. I think Ben puts it very well, he says, “We’re like a quartet and we each bring our individual instruments, that we each play very well and together those instruments make music.” So, we’ve all been trying to decide which instrument we play, we haven’t quite settled on that yet. But we do make good music.

What is the plot of ‘The Thursday Murder Club’?

Elderly amateur sleuths attempt to solve a murder. One was a spy (Helen Mirren), one was a nurse (Celia Imrie), one was a trade union official (Pierce Brosnan) and one was a psychiatrist (Sir Ben Kingsley).

Who is in the cast of ‘The Thursday Murder Club’?

• Helen Mirren as Elizabeth Best
• Pierce Brosnan as Ron Ritchie
• Ben Kingsley as Ibrahim Arif
• Celia Imrie as Joyce Meadowcroft
• David Tennant as Ian Ventham
• Jonathan Pryce as Stephen Best
• Naomi Ackie as PC Donna De Freitas
• Daniel Mays as DCI Chris Hudson
• Henry Lloyd-Hughes as Bogdan
• Richard E. Grant as Bobby Tanner
• Tom Ellis as Jason Ritchie
• Geoff Bell as Tony Curran
• Paul Freeman as John Grey
• Sarah Niles as Patrice De Freitas
• Ingrid Oliver as Joanna Meadowcroft

List of Pierce Brosnan Movies and TV Shows:

• ‘Remington Steele‘ (1982 – 1987)
• ‘Taffin‘ (1988)
• ‘The Heist‘ (1989)
• ‘The Lawnmower Man‘ (1992)
• ‘Mrs. Doubtfire‘ (1993)
• ‘GoldenEye‘ (1995)
• ‘Mars Attacks!‘ (1996)
• ‘The Mirror Has Two Faces‘ (1996)
• ‘Dante’s Peak‘ (1997)
• ‘Tomorrow Never Dies‘ (1997)
• ‘Grey Owl‘ (2000)
• ‘The Thomas Crown Affair‘ (1999)
• ‘The World Is Not Enough‘ (1999)
• ‘The Tailor of Panama‘ (2001)
• ‘Die Another Day‘ (2002)
• ‘After the Sunset‘ (2004)
• ‘Laws of Attraction‘ (2004)
• ‘The Matador‘ (2005)
• ‘Mamma Mia!‘ (2008)
• ‘The Ghost Writer‘ (2010)
• ‘Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief‘ (2010)
• ‘Remember Me‘ (2010)
• ‘Bag of Bones‘ (2011)
• ‘The World’s End‘ (2013)
• ‘The November Man‘ (2014)
• ‘No Escape‘ (2015)
• ‘The Only Living Boy in New York‘ (2017)
• ‘The Foreigner‘ (2017)
• ‘The Son‘ (2017 – 2019)
• ‘Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again‘ (2018)
• ‘Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga‘ (2020)
• ‘Cinderella‘ (2021)
• ‘Black Adam‘ (2022)
• ”The Last Rifleman‘ (2024)
• ‘Black Bag‘ (2025)
• ‘The King of Kings‘ (2025)
• ‘MobLand‘ (2025)

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