Kenneth Branagh has found the suspects for his latest Agatha Christie adaptation, A Haunting in Venice.
Branagh is back starring as detective Hercule Poirot and returns as director for what will be the third Christie mystery movie from 20th Century Studios.
This time around, Jamie Dornan, Tina Fey, Michelle Yeoh, Jude Hill and Kelly Reilly have been recruited for the all-star ensemble, with Emma Laird, Kyle Allen, Camille Cottin, Ali Khan and Riccardo Scamarico also on the call sheet.
Production is set to begin Oct. 31, Halloween Day, which is fitting since Haunting is inspired by the 1969 Christie novel, Hallowe’en Party.
That story saw the mystery set in motion when a 13-year old girl, who claimed she witnessed a murder when she was younger, is found dead in an apple-bobbing tub. The studio described the adaptation, written by Michael Green, as an “unsettling supernatural-thriller” and shared its logline: “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.”
Character details for the list of thespians were not revealed.
“This is a fantastic development of the character Hercule Poirot, as well as the Agatha Christie franchise,” said Branagh in a statement. “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.”
Branagh directed and starred in Christie features Murder on the Orient Express (2017) and Death on the Nile (2022).
Judy Hofflund is back as a producer. Exec producers include Louise Killin and James Prichard, along with filmmakers Ridley Scott, Simon Kinberg and Mark Gordon.
For Dornan and Hill, Haunting reunites them with their director of Belfast, Branagh’s sweet drama that won an original screenplay Oscar earlier this earlier amid several other nominations, including best picture.
Yeoh is enjoying a career resurgence thanks to Everything Everywhere All At Once, the heady multiverse-centric thriller from filmmakers the Daniels.
Fey is coming off appearing in Only Murders in the Building and voicing a starring role in Pixar’s Soul.
Laird had a key role in TV’s Mayor of Kingstown while Reilly is one of the stars of Yellowstone.
Allen appears in Hulu’s Rosaline, Cottin appeared in Call My Agent, Khan was in Michael Bay’s 6 Underground, and Italian actor Scamarcio is starring in the upcoming Caravaggio’s Shadow.
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