When you picture Agatha Christie’s iconic crime-solver Miss Marple, what comes to mind? The stalwart TV portrayal by Joan Hickson? Or perhaps the more modern version with Geraldine McEwan inheriting the sensible shoes and nice hat? Well, you can forget all that nonsense: for her big screen incarnation via Disney, Miss Marple will take the form of Jennifer Garner.
Er… So that means Garner will be sitting in a make up chair for hours every day on set to play the elderly sleuth? Not quite. The Mouse House is ditching the central concept of Miss Marple as an old spinster and re-inventing her for a younger generation.
Yep, according to Deadline, Disney is calling in writer Mark Frost (Fantastic Four, Twin Peaks) to craft a new version where Marple is Garner’s age. The actress is producing the new movie, working with her Vandalia Films company to fashion a star vehicle. No details of the plot are available yet (not a shocker given the early development stage) but we presume the usual St Mary Mead village setting might be swapped for, say, Chicago’s mean streets or possibly the Moon. Meanwhile, Judi Dench and Garner’s Arthur co-star Helen Mirren are probably on their way to “have a word” about someone taking away yet another part for older actresses...