A mystery is officially afoot at Protagonist Pictures as cameras are currently rolling on their family mystery novel adaptation Flavia. To celebrate, the first image was shared featuring The Best Christmas Pageant Ever star Molly Belle Wright as the titular 11-year-old detective alongside her co-stars Martin Freeman and Toby Jones. Together, they’ll be wrapped up in a devious case of murder at a British manor based on the beloved series of novels by New York Times bestselling author Alan Bradley. Production on the film, which hails from Boy Swallows Universe episode director Bharat Nalluri, is slated to last for eight weeks before wrapping up at the end of November.
Flavia is specifically adapted from the first book in Bradley‘s Flavia De Luce series titled The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. The film will serve as a proper introduction to the young detective extraordinaire and budding master poisoner as she finds a dead body in her decaying manor house. Due to the suspicious circumstances, her father is accused of the murder, forcing Flavia to embark on her own wild, thorough, and winding investigation to find the true culprit. Along the way, she uncovers long-held family secrets that lead her into a confrontation with the person behind the entire plot.
To adapt the debut Flavia De Luce novel, the team brought aboard a writer with experience bringing beloved books to life – Susan Coyne. Best known for co-creating and co-starring in the darkly comedic series Slings & Arrows, she has writing credits on several prominent novel adaptations, including Daisy Jones & The Six, Mozart in the Jungle, and The Man Who Invented Christmas, the latter of which Nalluri also directed. Wright, Freeman, and Jones lead a starry cast that also features Karan Gill, Annette Badland, and Academy Award-nominated The Two Popes star Jonathan Pryce.
How Many ‘Flavia De Luce’ Books Are There?
Despite only being 11 years old, Flavia De Luce has already solved enough mysteries to start making Agatha Christie‘s Hercule Poirot sweat. The novel series spans 11 books, selling a combined total of over 6 million copies in over 40 territories around the world. These stories aren’t afraid to get on the darker side either, but they’ve still managed to find an audience with readers young and old thanks to their fearless title character. Protagonist Pictures George Hamilton shared his excitement for finally bringing Flavia to the screen, saying “We’re beyond excited that filming has begun, and we are able to share an initial glimpse into Flavia’s world. Molly is surrounded by such an amazing cast and, under Bharat’s skilled direction, the first of the Flavia De Luce mystery stories is bursting into life as a thoroughly entertaining film that will appeal to the whole family.” This is just one of several exciting projects Protagonist has on the horizon, joining Brian Cox‘s directorial debut family drama Glenrothan and the Paul Walter Hauser-led TIFF standout The Luckiest Man in America.
There is no release date yet for Flavia. Stay tuned here at Collider for more information as it comes out. Check out the first image above.
via Collider