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20th Century Sets The Cast For Kenneth Branagh's A Haunting In Venice

Published Mon, 10 Oct 2022 16:51:10 -0500

When Death on the Nile finally made its way into theaters earlier this year, people were wondering if the many delays and the lukewarm reception meant that it would be the last of the Agatha Christie adaptations we would see from Kenneth Branagh. He had a real love for the character, but the production issues behind the second movie were going to be a hurdle to climb over no matter how anyone decided to swing it. It turns out that 20th Century Studios was happy enough with how Death on the Nile performed because we are getting a third movie. We got that confirmation back in March, but today we got an announcement that production is set to begin next month on A Haunting in Venice. It is being called a "supernatural-thriller" inspired by Hallowe'en Party by Christie. Branagh will return to direct along with Michael Green on the screenplay, which will shoot in London and Venice. The press release also listed the impressive cast: A brilliant acting ensemble portraying a cast of unforgettable characters will be featured, including Kenneth Branagh, Kyle Allen (Rosaline), Camille Cottin (Call My Agent), Jamie Dornan (Belfast), Tina Fey (30 Rock), Jude Hill (Belfast), Ali Khan (6 Underground), Emma Laird (Mayor of Kingstown), Kelly Reilly (Yellowstone), Riccardo Scamarico (Caravaggio's Shadow), and Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once). A Haunting in Venice will open in theaters nationwide in 2023.

20th Century Studios Sets The Cast For A Haunting In Venice — Credit: 20th Century Studios

Set in eerie, post-World War II Venice on All Hallows' Eve, A Haunting in Venice is a terrifying mystery featuring the return of the celebrated sleuth, Hercule Poirot. Now retired and living in self-imposed exile in the world's most glamorous city, Poirot reluctantly attends a séance at a decaying, haunted palazzo. When one of the guests is murdered, the detective is thrust into a sinister world of shadows and secrets.

Kenneth Branagh says, "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."

Steve Asbell, president 20th Century Studios, says, "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. We also remain grateful to James Prichard and the rest of our friends at Agatha Christie, Ltd., for their partnership and for once again entrusting us with, as Poirot modestly calls himself, 'probably the greatest detective in the world.'"

This looks like a spooky movie. Does that means we're going to get an October release? A mystery movie in October sounds like a lot of fun. We'll probably learn more about A Haunting in Venice as production begins, but it's really neat that they are doing an unknown story. Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile is extremely well-known stories, so people know the answers to the mystery, possibly through cultural osmosis. This one could be a mystery where most of the audience doesn't know the answer until the end, which is half the fun of mystery stories.

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