VARIETY
‘Sherlock’ Star Martin Freeman, ‘The Sandman’ Actor Isla Gie to Headline ‘Flavia de Luce,’ Protagonist to Launch at Cannes (EXCLUSIVE)
Isla Gie (“The Sandman”) will star alongside Martin Freeman (“Sherlock,” The Hobbit”) in the upcoming feature film adaptation of the New York Times bestselling novel “The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Mystery.”
Protagonist Pictures is launching international sales on the family adventure and will introduce to buyers at the upcoming Cannes film market. CAA Media Finance are handling North America.
Adapted by Susan Coyne (“Daisy Jones and the Six”), the film will follow the adventures of 11-year-old Flavia de Luce (Gie), who is both an amateur detective and a master poisoner. When she discovers a dead body in her family’s decaying British manor house and her father is accused of the murder, Flavia launches her own investigation to uncover family secrets and bring the true murderer to justice.
The film will be directed by Emmy and BAFTA-nominated director Bharat Nalluri (“The Man Who Invented Christmas,” “Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day”).
The film is being produced by Paula Mazur and Mitchell Kaplan for The Mazur Kaplan Company and Robert Mickelson for Mystic Point, with Protagonist Pictures CEO Dave Bishop and chief commercial officer George Hamilton serving as executive producers.. The two production companies previously collaborated on “The Man Who Invented Christmas.”
Bishop said: “Flavia is a most charming and resourceful heroine with an insatiable curiosity in her fearless pursuit of the truth and we have no doubt this amateur detective will become a firm family favorite as she jumps from page to screen. Full of mystery, suspense and humor and rounded out with a fantastic cast, this is exactly the type of film audiences are craving for and we are honored to be launching Flavia’s first big screen adventure into the marketplace.”
Alan Bradley’s novel on which the film is based, won numerous awards, including The Debut Dagger Award, The Agatha Award and The Dilys Award. It was named the New York Times Review Favorite Mystery of The Year and was included in Amazon’s Top 10 in Mysteries and Thrillers. The novel is the first in a series of 10 Flavia de Luce mysteries.