Dual-threat actor and director Kenneth Branagh has to be one of the busiest guys in Hollywood. He has a role in Christopher Nolan’s yet to be released film Tenet, and he directed Artemis Fowl which just released a couple months ago. Now he has yet another big film set to hit theaters this Fall, Death on the Nile, which he also has a lead role in. And like many of his films, he brings with him a stellar cast including Kenneth Branagh, Gal Gadot, Black Panther’s Letitia Wright, Armie Hammer, Emma Mackey, and Annette Bening, to name a few.
Also based on a Agatha Christie novel, Death on the Nile is the sequel to Murder on the Orient Express (2017), which is obvious just by looking at the strikingly similar movie posters. The sequel again follows relentless detective Hercule Poirot (played by Kenneth Branagh), who while on an Egyptian vacation on the Nile aboard a luxury river steamer must investigate the murder of a young heiress after a couples honeymoon is tragically cut short. At the end of Murder on the Orient Express, Poirot is told of a “Murder on the Nile”. Now aside from the fact that poor Hercule can’t seem to catch a break, this looks REALLY good.
I will be the first to admit that Murder on the Orient Express fell short of my high expectations when I first saw it in theaters as I felt it was a bit slow and lacked a true payoff at the conclusion of the film. I did go back and watch it a second time and I was able to appreciate it more without the expectations hanging over me. After watching the trailer for Death on the Nile, my expectations are again through the roof, of course. I love the cast lead by Gal Gadot and Amie Hammer, and the setting is absolutely picturesque. As long as this film gets a theatrical release (fingers crossed) I will be there opening night.
Death on the Nile is scheduled to hit theaters on October 23rd. Watch the new trailer below.