The TV series may be over, but we haven’t seen the last of Miss Fisher or her murder mysteries. A feature film is in the works and it begins filming this fall.
Viewers in more than 180 territories across the globe were gutted when the Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries television series concluded after just three seasons a couple years ago. The stories, based on the best-selling murder mystery novels by Kerry Greenwood, were great, the period costumes were fabulous, and Essie Davis (The Babadook, The Last Post, The White Princess) and the rest of the cast and crew made every episode must-watch TV.
Soon there will be a must-see feature film — Miss Fisher & The Crypt of Tears — thanks to the generosity of private investors and fans who have contributed more than $AUS1 million to the film’s budget through a hugely successful crowdfunding campaign. (You can still contribute and get in on the perks being offered until June 19th.)
Essie Davis reprises her role as the Honourable Phryne Fisher, the glamorous private detective whose exploits in 1920s Melbourne, Australia, lead her to murder, mystery, and mayhem from London to British Palestine.
Joining her are her co-stars from the TV series, including Nathan Page (Underbelly, The Secret Life of Us) as Detective Inspector Jack Robinson, Miriam Margolyes (Bucket, Harry Potter) as Aunt Prudence, and Ashleigh Cummings (Gallipoli, Puberty Blues) as Phryne’s loyal assistant and maid Dorothy ‘Dot’ Collins.
The film opens with Phryne rescuing Shirin Abbas, a young Bedouin woman, who has been thrown into jail in British Mandated Palestine for making trouble at a time of colonial unrest. After a perilous escape from Jerusalem, Phryne rejoins Shirin as a fellow guest in the home of Lord and Lady Lofthouse for the London season, and she pledges to help her right a wrong and discover the truth about the Crypt of Tears — an ancient crypt rumored to lie somewhere beneath the rolling sands of the Negev Desert.
Series writer Deb Cox (Newton’s Law) wrote the screenplay for Miss Fisher & The Crypt of Tears, which is being produced by series producer Fiona Eagger (East of Everything), co-produced by Lucy Maclaren (Long Weekend), and executive produced by Eagger and Cox. Tony Tilse (Serangoon Road), the set-up director on the TV series, will direct the film.
Said Cox:
“[B]oth new fans and old are in for a ride full of twists and turns as Phryne’s Middle Eastern adventures find her hunting for missing treasure, racing the clock on an apocalyptic ancient curse – and still finding time for romantic dalliance – in the sweeping deserts and sumptuous mansions of this exotic big screen production.”
Eagger added:
“Miss Fisher & the Crypt of Tears will have the witty intrigue of Indiana Jones, the opulent style of a Merchant Ivory Production, and the feminist fun of Thelma and Louise. The legions of Miss Fisher fans from around the world have been eagerly waiting for news of Phryne’s next grand adventure. We are thrilled that she will be taking the leap to the big screen and with this fabulous new international murder mystery story.”
Miss Fisher & The Crypt of Tears begins filming in Morocco and Melbourne, Australia, this October.
The film is an Every Cloud Production, and the principal investor is Screen Australia, in association with Film Victoria. Roadshow Films is the Australia/New Zealand distributor.
Stay tuned for updates.
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