A Haunting in Venice: Kenneth Branagh back with new Hercules Poirot film
- Kenneth Branagh is set to direct and star in his next Agatha Christie adaptation, A Haunting in Venice
- The film will be adapted from Christie's novel, Hallowe’en Party
- Tina Fey and Jamie Dornan have been roped in to star
Filmmaker-actor Kenneth Branagh is planning another Agatha Christie adaptation, A Haunting in Venice, after his successful adaptations of Murder on The Orient Express and A Death in the Nile. However, the title of this film is different from the original Christie novel, Hallowe’en Party.
Just like the previous instalments of the series, Branagh has put together an impressive star cast for A Haunting in Venice. While he himself with direct the film and portray the character of the famous Belgian detective, former Saturday Night Live head writer and creator of 30 Rock, Tina Fey, has joined the cast alongside Jamie Dornan, Jude Hill, Ali Khan, Emma Laird, Kelly Reilly, Riccardo Scamarico and Michelle Yeoh. Production for the film has already begun in Pinewood Studios outside London.
The story finds Hercule Poirot living a retired life in Venice post World War II. Despite his reluctance, Poirot attends a seance session at a dilapidated and apparently haunted palazzo. This is when one of the other invited guests is murdered and the seminal detective takes it upon himself to nab the person behind the deed.
Branagh, regarding this upcoming project, said, “This is a fantastic development of the character Hercule Poirot, as well as the Agatha Christie franchise. Based on a complex, little-known tale of mystery set at Halloween in a pictorially ravishing city, it is an amazing opportunity for us, as filmmakers, and we are relishing the chance to deliver something truly spine-chilling for our loyal movie audiences”.
Besides Branagh, the previous two instalments’ producer, Judy Hofflund, is also coming onboard for A Haunting in Venice, along with executive producers Louise Killin, James Prichard, Ridley Scott, Simon Kinberg, and Mark Gordon.
Steve Asbell, 20th Century Studios’ President, sounded optimistic about the film as he commented, “We are enormously privileged to continue our long collaboration with the incomparable Sir Kenneth Branagh and couldn’t be more excited by the bold new creative direction Ken, Michael, and the rest of the filmmaking team have taken with this latest film
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