Marple and Poirot to join hi-tech age

Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot are to make the jump to mobile and internet platforms after a new deal struck by Chorion, the company that owns the rights to the Agatha Christie books.

Chorion has signed a deal with UK-based Interactive Rights Management (IRM) to create and commercialise the global internet and mobile rights to the characters from Christie’s books.

IRM director of business development Megan Goodwin-Patel says the deal will initially focus on developing games around the best-known characters such as Marple and Poirot. One challenge will be to turn the Christie brand away from its fusty image and appeal to a broader market – something that Chorion has managed with television but not with the books.

“Agatha Christie has mass-market appeal in TV, but the books tend to appeal to either the young or the old,” says Goodwin-Patel. “We are going to bring a classic brand to a new audience and reinvigorate the brand.”

The first output is likely to be a PC-based downloadable game that will be released by Christmas or early next year. This will be followed by a series of mobile and internet games that will be released on a global basis.

Murder mystery writer Christie is the world’s best-selling novelist, with more than 2 billion books sold in 42 languages. Her works include 80 novels and short story collections and 19 plays.