Jessica Fletcher is heading back to Cabot Cove, and this time she is coming to a theater near you.
Universal Pictures announced today that “Murder, She Wrote,” the highly anticipated feature film reboot of the beloved CBS mystery series, will open in theaters on December 22, 2027. The Christmas holiday release slots Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis into one of television’s most iconic roles, stepping into the sensible shoes of Jessica Fletcher, the crime-writing amateur sleuth made legendary by Angela Lansbury across 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996.
The announcement marks a significant milestone for a project that has been building momentum in Hollywood since late 2024. Deadline first reported that December that Curtis was in talks to lead a feature adaptation written by Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, the scribes behind the acclaimed financial drama “Dumb Money.” The project gained further traction in January when Variety confirmed that director Jason Moore, best known for launching the franchise-making “Pitch Perfect,” had signed on to helm the film. Universal is now planting a firm flag in the calendar with a date that positions the film as a major holiday event.
Curtis herself has made little secret of her enthusiasm. Speaking on the red carpet for “Freakier Friday,” she told Entertainment Tonight in her characteristically dramatic fashion, “Oh, it’s… happening. We’re a minute away, but yeah, very excited. Very excited. But I’m tamping down my enthusiasm until we start shooting.” For a star who has navigated horror icons, comedic chaos, and Oscar glory with equal grace, the role seems tailor-made. Her sharp wit and grounded screen presence earned her enormous acclaim in ensemble mysteries, and she carries an instinctive warmth that made Lansbury’s Fletcher so enduringly beloved.
The screenplay, credited to Schuker Blum and Angelo, is based on the original CBS series created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson, and William Link. Plot details remain closely guarded, but the original show centered on Fletcher, a retired schoolteacher who reinvented herself as a successful mystery novelist and discovered, along the way, an uncommon gift for solving actual murders in her fictional coastal hometown of Cabot Cove, Maine. The series ran for 264 episodes, spawned four television movies, and earned Lansbury 12 Emmy nominations for her performance.
The producing team assembled behind the film is a formidable one. Amy Pascal will produce alongside Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Aditya Sood through Lord Miller’s first-look deal with Universal Pictures. Lord and Miller most recently collaborated with Universal on “Project Hail Mary,” the science fiction adaptation that shattered box office expectations just days ago. SVP of Development Lexi Barta and Director of Production Development Jacqueline Garell will oversee the project on the studio side.
For Moore, “Murder, She Wrote” adds to an already crowded directing slate. He helmed the pilot episode of “Elle,” the “Legally Blonde” prequel series heading to Prime Video, and is scheduled to direct a West End revival of “Avenue Q” before moving into two separate book adaptations. His feature credits include the ensemble comedy “Sisters” with Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Maya Rudolph, and the action-comedy “Shotgun Wedding” with Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel.
Universal has positioned “Murder, She Wrote” squarely in the thick of the holiday moviegoing season. The film will open alongside Sony’s animated adventure “Buds” and three days ahead of an untitled romantic comedy from Nancy Meyers, starring Kieran Culkin, Michael Fassbender, Jude Law, and Penélope Cruz. It will also share the crowded corridor with Disney’s blockbuster “Avengers: Secret Wars.” Competition will be fierce, but the combination of nostalgia, a bankable star, and a beloved source property gives Universal reason for confidence in the placement.
The road to this moment was not without its complications. The project stalled for years, with Angela Lansbury reportedly unwilling to give her blessing to any continuation of the character she had so wholly inhabited. After Lansbury’s death in October 2022 at the age of 96, the studio revisited the concept and development accelerated. A 2013 attempt by NBC to reboot the series with Octavia Spencer in the lead role never made it past the announcement stage, making the current production all the more remarkable as a piece of Hollywood perseverance.
What Universal is betting on now is that Jamie Lee Curtis, with her Oscar pedigree, her knack for genre storytelling, and her proven chemistry with ensemble casts, can bring Jessica Fletcher to a generation that may know “Murder, She Wrote” only by reputation. If December 22, 2027 holds, audiences will find out whether that bet pays off just in time for the holidays.
