Florence Pugh has signed on to star in murder mystery The Maid, which is in the works at Universal. Based on Nita Prose‘s forthcoming 2022 novel, Pugh will play the titular maid, a service worker named Molly, who discovers the murderous secrets of her guests at an opulent manor, and becomes directly involved in solving the crime.
The film is being described as a cross between an Agatha Christie whodunit and Gail Honeyman‘s novel Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, “a psychological examination of romantic obsession, isolation, and transformation”. Sounds good!
This is obviously the result of the success of Knives Out, and it’s great that one successful and well-liked original film is leading to another. In the immediate aftermath of Knives Out‘s box office run, it was disappointing to hear that Rian Johnson had signed on to make a Benoit Blanc-related sequel.
The film itself was a breath of fresh air, the rare original, non-franchise hit that audiences loved. And then it was instantly turned into a franchise. What should have happened is studios commissioning their own original murder mysteries based off the success of that film, which is finally what’s happening here.
Hopefully The Maid can be just that and have similar success, and prove to studios that there is still a market for fresh, original films.
Pugh is really rising up the ranks of Hollywood. She recently killed it in Little Women and Midsommar, and in a normal year we would have already seen her in Black Widow, but that’s now been pushed to next year.
She’s currently working on Olivia Wilde‘s psychological thriller Don’t Worry, Darling and is also expected to be involved in the Disney+ series Hawkeye.
#Peace.Love.TheMaid
