When you adapt a story, everything you do is a choice – to adhere to the material, to try something different, to actualise the author’s intention, or to recognise moments that need cinematic heightening. For the most part, Chris Columbus’ take on The Thursday Murder Club – the massively popular Richard Osman whodunnit, set in a retirement home where four residents take to solving crimes – looks set to be largely faithful to the original novel (still set in England, despite the amount of Americans involved in bringing it to the screen). But there are some differences – most notably in one member of the titular club, Ron. While he’s a neck-tattooed former trade unionist on the page, he’s set to be played on screen by Pierce Brosnan, bringing a different spin on the character.
Since fan-casts often had Ray Winstone down as a book-accurate Ron, Brosnan brings a different energy. But as Osman explains, that’s a benefit of adaptation. “You have to do something unusual and different and interesting,” he tells Empire, explaining why Brosnan fits the character surprisingly beyond (beyond the fact that, well, he’s Pierce Brosnan). “Here’s the key thing about Pierce Brosnan playing Ron: Pierce Brosnan is who Ron would choose to play Ron. In the next book, I’ve got a scene with Ron and Ibrahim discussing who the best Bond is, and Ron is very much a Pierce Brosnan man. And Ibrahim is Timothy Dalton. For me, that’s the joy.”
It’s a justification that Brosnan himself particularly enjoys. “That’s bloody great,” he says. “I love it. Timothy Dalton was a fantastic Bond. Brosnan wasn’t half bad either.” As for Sir Ben Kingsley, who plays Ibrahim, his screen partnership with Brosnan proved a highlight of The Thursday Murder Club experience. “My working relationship with Pierce is one of the best working relationships I’ve ever had in my career,” he says. “We shared a trust that means we could go into a Laurel-and-Hardy riff at a moment’s notice, because we understood each other’s working rhythm.” Seems like he’s just the right Ron after all.
Read Empire’s full The Thursday Murder Club feature – going on set and speaking to Christopher Columbus, Richard Osman, Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, Ben Kingsley and Celia Imrie – in the Tron: Ares issue, on sale now. Order a copy online here. The Thursday Murder Club comes to Netflix on 28 August.
