The streaming numbers must have been pretty great for 2022’s Death on the Nile, because 20th Century have tasked Kenneth Branagh’s Hercule Poirot with solving a third Agatha Christie case by greenlighting an adaptation of A Haunting In Venice.
Deadline reports that this latest whodunnit will point the finger at Jamie Dornan (The Fall), Tina Fey (30 Rock), Jude Hill (Belfast), Ali Khan (The School for Good and Evil), Emma Laird (Mayor of Kingstown), Kelly Reilly (Yellowstone), Riccardo Scamarcio (John Wick: Chapter 2) and Michelle Yeoh (Everything, Everywhere All at Once). Branagh is set to reprise his role as Hercule Poirot and will also return to direct the pic from a script by Michael Green.
Adapted from Agatha Christie’s 1969 novel Hallowe’en Party, A Haunting In Venice is set in eerie, post-World War II Venice on All Hallows’ Eve, where Hercule Poirot is now retired and living in exile in the Italian city. While attending a séance at a decaying, haunted palazzo, one of the guests is murdered, and the moustachioed detective is thrust into a sinister world of shadows and secrets.
2017’s Murder on the Orient Express kicked off the recent trend of murder-mystery big-screen outings, grossing $352 million worldwide. The sequel, Death on the Nile was delayed by the pandemic, before eventually setting sail with lukewarm reviews, cast controversy, and a hybrid release pattern which saw it debut on Disney+. It eventually finished with $137 million worldwide, but the streaming numbers must have been impressive enough for 20th Century to fund another case with an equally impressive cast as before.
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Originally published October 11, 2022. Updated October 29, 2022.
