Miss Marple is about to get a whole lot sexier…or a lot less if you’re a real GILF-hunter. Deadline reports that Jennifer Garner will play Agatha Christie’s amateur detective in a new Disney film that will turn the old biddy into an independent woman in her mid-30s. While on one level this is just another case of Hollywood glossing up and dumbing down another literary character for mass consumption (Sherlock Holmes, anyone?), some fans are particularly annoyed that a character who’s whole appeal is based on being underestimated due to her age will be reduced to another meaningless “brand.” And way to imply that 40 might as well be 80 for your average actress, producers.
Then again, since Jennifer Garner is one of the film’s producers, it may not be quite as intelligence-insulting as fans will fear. But if the film is a hit, what will that mean for the old Miss Marple, who appeared in 12 novels, multiple movies and countless TV miniseries? Will new books about the “young” Marple be released? And if they wanted to pump life into a geriatric brand, couldn’t they just glam up Jessica Fletcher for a fresh new take on Murder, She Wrote instead?
[Photo: Getty Images/ITV]
