The film hit the big screen last night for it's Los Angeles premiere at AMC Century City and drew a starry guest list on the red carpet.
Appearing on the carpet were good friends of Joan including Dyan Cannon, Donna Mills, Ann Turkel, Juliet Mills and husband Maxwell Caulfield..
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| Joan with co-star Jacob Young |
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| Joan with longtime friend Dyan Cannon |
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| (C) ReMIND Magazine |
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| (c) Gilbert Flores |
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| Joan with Golden Globe President Helen Hoene (c) Gilbert Flores |
Joan will appear at the show this Saturday January10th..
More info and a chance to prebook a photo opportunity can be found here!
Synopsis: When six friends vacation at the country estate of a legendary true crime TV star (Collins), the last thing they expect is to find one of their own murdered. Everyone is a suspect as they try to determine who among them would have the means, motive, and opportunity. As tensions grow, they enlist the aid of their celebrity sleuth hostess to uncover the truth before the killer can strike again.
The film stars Golden Globe® winner Joan Collins (Dynasty), Nadia Bjorlin (Days of our Lives), Daytime Emmy® Award winner Jacob Young (The Bold and The Beautiful, All My Children), Trent Garrett (Army of Thieves), BAFTA nominee Toby-Alexander Smith (EastEnders, Hallmark franchise films), Simon Cotton (Emmerdale), India Thain, (Sharknado 5: Global Swarming), Czech actress Hana Vagnerová (Netflix's Borders of Love), Broadway's Jim Borstelmann (The Producers, Chicago), and featuring internet sensation Espen Hatleskog, also known as IG's @pilotviking.
Lise Romanoff, CEO and Managing Director of Vision Films shares, "Just when you think you have it figured out, this clever murder mystery throws you for a loop – over and over again. The iconic Joan Collins elevates this whodunnit with authenticity and humor for a suspense-filled ride."
Screenwriter Mark Rozzano says, "As a lifelong fan of Agatha Christie and TV detectives like Columbo, I wrote the character of sleuth "Francesca Carlyle" specifically for my longtime friend and favorite actress Joan Collins, as a glamorous version of "Miss Marple." I was so fortunate to assemble an all-star cast of friends, who also happen to be the best from Hollywood, London, and Broadway."
Co-Director Jacob Young adds, "I couldn't be more excited for audiences to finally experience this film. This project has been incredibly meaningful to me, not only as a producer and director, but also stepping in front of the camera after a long hiatus as an actor. Working side by side with executive producer and my dear friend Mark Rozzano was a true labor of love from start to finish. Working alongside my talented co-star and longtime friend Nadia Bjorlin of 25 years made the journey even more special..
A Murder Between Friends be available on most major streaming and cable platforms across the US and Canada on January 13, 2026. Pre-order A Murder Between Friends now at iTunes/Apple TV (US, CA) and Vudu/Fandango at Home (US).
About Vision Films
Vision Films is a leading independent sales and VOD aggregator specializing in the licensing, marketing, and distribution of over 800 feature films, documentaries, and series from some of the most prolific independent film producers in the world. Led by Lise Romanoff, Managing Director/CEO Worldwide Distribution, Vision Films releases 2-4 films a month across Theatrical, VOD, DVD, and television platforms. visionfilms.net
Media Contact:
Andrea McKinnon
8184159442
SOURCE Vision Films, Inc.
Joan Collins is back on your screens as the newest crime sleuth, Francesca Carlyle, in co-directors Trent Garrett and Jacob Young’s murder mystery, A Murder Between Friends, from a screenplay by Mark Rozzano. Three couples and longtime friends go on a European mansion getaway. The mansion is owned by Francesca, a family investigative journalist known worldwide for her murder-investigation show. This doesn’t sound good.
The group includes the longtime married couple Josh (Jacob Young) and Kat (Nadia Bjorlin), the newlyweds Devin and Sonia (India Thain), and the newest couple — and soon-to-be engaged — Sydney (Toby-Alexander Smith) and Louisa (Hana Vagnerová). As the weekend starts, the friends are cordial, but by night, the niceties wane ever so slightly, especially after a quick glance between Devin and Sydney. Just before the tension can truly build, the three couples turn in for the night. In the morning, Sydney and Louisa are missing. When Sydney returns from a walk, a search begins for Louisa with the help of Francesca, and it’s soon discovered that Louisa has been murdered by being drowned in the hot tub. Which one of the remaining five did it? The motives and alibis for everyone are unclear, yet as they say, no one can leave the mansion or the city until the murder is solved.
A Murder Between Friends marks the return of Joan Collins as the heir apparent to Angela Lansbury’s Murder, She Wrote. Collins serves more as the host of the murder-mystery weekend, tasked with dispensing game-changing revelations throughout the film, such as that Louisa was worth $3 million and left it all to Sydney without his knowledge. There’s also the love affair between Sydney and Devin that Josh stumbles upon. Things are not looking good for Sydney.
I find that murder mysteries go in one of two directions. The first is making it an actual murder mystery, where the killer is revealed at the end, and it’s up to you to find the clues along the way as you see what only Francesca sees. The story takes a different path; the story unfolds with all the characters, whether or not Francesca is there. One huge revelation is dropped after another, followed by massive plot twists, including Kat (Josh’s wife) being murdered in a car accident. Then there’s the even juicier twist.
A Murder Between Friends also reminds me of The Love Boat or Fantasy Island. Actors from soap operas and indie films comprise most of the cast, and they give solid performances for a caper made specifically for television. This is a mystery, rather than the horror or thriller that Hollywood likes to throw our way. Collins may be a bit older since her Dynasty days, but she’s still got spunk, and if this series continues, it really needs her to be much nosier about the affairs of her suspects. Her role is to push characters into a corner by poking holes in their motives and alibis.
A Murder Between Friends makes for a fun night of low-stakes sleuthing, and it’s great to have Joan Collins back. It is a simple mystery playing on our greed and our appetite for spicy relationships at the same time.
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| (c) Mike Marsland |
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| (c) Simon Ackerman |
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| (c) Dave Bennet Joan with Stephen Fry |
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| (C) Simon Ackerman |
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| Photo (c) : Dave Bennett |
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| (c) Dave Bennett Joan & Percy with brother Bill & wife Hazel |
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| Credit: Dave Benett/Getty for Burberry |
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| (Photo by Ricky Vigil M / Justin E Palmer/GC Images) |
The 2025 installation in the hotel’s chequerboard lobby features giant chess pieces and bows crafted from surplus Burberry fabric
This year’s tree, says Lee, was his chance “to celebrate tradition and togetherness, expressed through vibrant colours and rich textures,” he says. “I wanted to celebrate the beauty of British landscapes at this time of year so we combined the wild, natural foliage from the UK with thistles, Scotland’s national flower (a nod to Burberry’s connection to the Highlands where its iconic cashmere check is made, primarily with Johnstons of Elgin), brass bells and at its base cosy check cushions and blankets,” the designer enthuses.
The Burberry vibe has been extended through the hotel for Christmas in other ways too – the fashion house’s famous check, in a deep festive red, lines the hotel’s 129-year-old Art Deco scissor-gated lift (the oldest working lift in London), wraps the guest key card envelopes; while Burberry scarves will keep the doormen’s necks warm through the winter.
Since Claridge’s unveiled its first ever designer Christmas tree in 2009 – an otherworldly frozen tropical forest dreamscape whimsically conjured by Dior’s then creative director John Galliano – going to see the Christmas tree at London’s most famous hotel has become a grown-up version of childhood visits to Santa.
The designer tree idea was first sparked over a glass of champagne in the hotel’s moody Fumoir bar, when Paula Fitzherbert, Maybourne’s Head of Global Communications (the hotel group also has The Connaught, The Berkeley and the Emory in London) and Kate Hudson, who worked at Dior (now Claridge’s archivist) wondered if Galliano might get involved with making the hotel fit for Christmas. With an immediate, resounding yes, Galliano and creative director Michael Howells (who had collaborated with the designer on his catwalk shows) dreamed up a scene of flowing, iridescent leopards and slithering snakes, “all hand-made in papier-mâché by artisans in Paris and then shipped over,” Fitzherbert recalls.
Transforming the lobby requires working through the night – “between the last guests going to bed and the first ones coming down for breakfast,” says Fitzherbert – and often means bringing in cherry pickers (the trees can go as high as 21ft, reaching up to the first floor landing), staging West End-style lighting, taking down chandeliers and, for Diane von Furstenberg, even removing the lobby portrait of Mrs Claridge, while set builders grab a quick snooze on the sweeping staircase and staff wheel in room-service trolleys laden with coffee, burgers (and champagne when the job’s done) to keep the team going.
Most take two nights to install; Christian Louboutin’s “The Loubi Express” train – complete with a number of accompanying trees decorated with gingerbread shoe biscuits and twinkling fairy lights – took four. As wild and whacky as some of these may have been, there have been just a few quiet moments when the Claridge’s team have said no. Dior’s request to lay grey carpet like the one in its Avenue Montaigne boutique up the hotel’s lobby stairs was “a step too far,” says Fitzherbert; and once Dolce & Gabbana wanted to put a jacket on a throne which didn’t suit the Art Deco vibe.
It’s all unveiled during a riotous party, which this year Burberry are hosting in over the Foyer restaurant. The best of London’s party people sipped on bespoke Burberry “Winter Knight” cocktails (infused with Claridge’s gin, herby Yellow Chartreuse liqueur, mulled spices and hints of citrus, topped with a splash of Billecart-Salmon Le Réserve) while grazing on crab tartlets topped with caviar, crumpets topped with black truffle shavings and CFT (Claridge’s Fried Turkey) from the laden feasting table.
The Claridge’s Christmas tree is now integral to the hotel’s annual traditions, as sought after as a table for one of its lavish afternoon teas (which book out the minute reservations open). “It’s an idea of what Christmas ought to be. An exercise in contemporary nostalgia,” offers David Downton, the hotel’s resident artist. Lee agrees. “Claridge’s always feels like home to me, from the moment I walk through its revolving doors,” he says. “It’s where I’ve enjoyed many special moments over the years.” So where else better for the designer responsible for recently putting the most British of fashion brands back on the map, in a place he says is a long-standing “true symbol of elegance and British heritage”, celebrating Christmas in rich, plush glory, “my favourite time of year.”
This year’s Claridge’s Christmas tree will be on show until January 4, 2026; claridges.co.uk
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| SHOOTING STAR CHILDREN'S HOSPICE |
ORDER The Dame Joan Bouquet Here..
What's included?
40 stems including Red Rose, White Oriental Lily, White Freesia, Laurel, Eucalyptus Robusta and Vase
The beautiful British actress Samantha Eggar has died in LA. I hope that will be the last in a spate of deaths among friends and celebrities in the past three months. First it was Terence Stamp, the handsome actor who starred with Samantha in
The Collector, which made them both into stars. Then the legendary Robert Redford, whose many fabulous performances in exceptional movies make today’s film output look positively anaemic. The Way We Were, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting and Indecent Proposal are just a few of the brilliantly entertaining films he starred in. I met him only once, on a flight from New York to LA. He was charming, standing up from his first-class seat to exchange pleasantries. Also in the first-class compartment on that flight were Al Pacino and the famous prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson case, Marcia Clark, who canoodled under a blanket with a young lover for the entire flight. I turned to my friend Nolan Miller and said: ‘If this plane goes down, who would get top billing?’
Joan with friend Samantha Eggar
Then there was Diane Keaton’s death, which was a great shock to the film community. A marvellously versatile actor, she enlivened so many iconic films. Percy sat next to her in March at a dinner hosted by Sherry Lansing, Hollywood producer and ex-head of Paramount, and all Diane could keep saying was: ‘I’m crazy. I’m just so crazy.’ Diane’s death was preceded by the loss of Dame Jilly Cooper, mourned by so many of her readers. All these people left their mark on society and entertainment, but one who left a great mark on the hospitality business was Patrice de Colmont, the owner and life and soul of the renowned Riviera bistro Le Club 55. Everyone who was anyone living in or visiting the south of France would go for lunch there – if they could get a table. The avuncular Patrice guarded his placement with bulldog determination. He also kept out the photographers and the paparazzi, so the many celebrities could eat and drink with impunity. The only time I ever saw paparazzi make it through was when Elizabeth Taylor and her date George Hamilton arrived. They broke the banks of dedicated waiters and swarmed around the famous couple, causing chaos. Elizabeth was charming and took it all in her stride as the offending paps were trundled off.
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| Joan at Club 55 with friends including Nikki Haskell & Ivana Trump |
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| Joan at The Thatcher Gala |
Conversation was spirited, despite Lord Archer having left his hearing aid at home. After Sir Conor Burns introduced me, I made a short speech. I think most people only want to hear short speeches. Boris Johnson’s speech, though long, was full of flavour and fun, even if some of it was incomprehensible. In my speech, I recalled being invited to the White House by Nancy and Ronald Reagan during Thatcher’s time as PM. When I arrived, the president asked: ‘How’s my gal Maggie?’ ‘I think she’s doing great,’ I replied. ‘She’s a great gal,’ he said. Indeed, she was a great gal and we all raised our glasses to her that night.
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| Joan with Gabriella Peacock |
