Oscar-winning actor Jamie Lee Curtis has been confirmed to take on the role of Jessica Fletcher in a big-screen reboot of Murder, She Wrote.

The 67-year-old star of Halloween and Everything Everywhere All at Once will play the mystery author and amateur detective made famous by Angela Lansbury in the long-running television series.

Curtis had been linked to the role since last year, confirming that the film would be happening while doing press for Freakier Friday. “We’re a minute away,” she said. “But very excited. Very excited. But I’m tamping down my enthusiasm until we start shooting. I have a couple other things to hustle and then I’ll get to enjoy that work.”

Universal has now confirmed that the film is happening and will be released on 22 December 2027.

It will be directed by Jason Moore whose credits include comedies Pitch Perfect and Sisters and written by Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo who wrote the script for GameStop stock movie Dumb Money.

The original CBS series ran for 12 seasons between 1984 and 1996 and at its height, reached 25m viewers a week.

Oscar-winning actor Octavia Spencer had been previously linked to a small-screen reboot, but while Lansbury found Spencer to be “a lovely actress” she expressed displeasure in an interview.

“I think it’s a mistake to call it Murder, She Wrote because Murder, She Wrote will always be about Cabot Cove and this wonderful little group of people who told those lovely stories and enjoyed a piece of that place, and also enjoyed Jessica Fletcher, who is a rare and very individual kind of person,” she said.

After the idea was scrapped, Lansbury said she was “terribly pleased and relieved” as it was a “terrible mistake”. Lansbury died in 2022.

Curtis can currently be seen alongside Nicole Kidman in Amazon’s crime thriller series Scarpetta. She was also recently seen in SXSW-premiering thriller Sender with Britt Lower.