Vishal Bhardwaj is working on a franchise of films based on the works of renowned British crime writer Agatha Christie, Variety reported on Sunday. The franchise will be co-produced by ACL, the company headed by Christie’s great-grandson James Prichard and Vishal Bhardwaj Films.

“The series will feature an entirely new pair of lead investigators,” the publication said. The first film is scheduled for a 2021 shoot. “Details of which Christie novel is being adapted for the film have not been revealed yet,” Variety added.

The film will “introduce a young heroine” and “an unlikely companion” who team up to solve a murder, Variety reported.

“Agatha Christie had a tremendous skill of defining emotional chaos, dysfunctional relationships and the turmoil in her characters while engaging us in a riveting mystery,” Bhardwaj told Variety.

Apart from inspiring several Indian knockoffs, including Gumnaam (1965), Dhund (1973) and Shubho Mahurat (2003), Christie is back in the news for Kenneth Branagh’s films based on her best-selling novels. While Murder on the Orient Express was released in 2017, Death on the Nile is expected over the next few months.

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