Kenneth Branagh has set the cast for his third Hercule Poirot whodunnit, following on from Murder on the Orient Express (2017) and Death on the Nile (2022). A Haunting in Venice will star Michelle Yeoh (tipped for an Oscar nomination in 2023), Jamie Dornan, Tina Fey, and Yellowstone‘s Kelly Reilly. Branagh is also set to be reunited with the young star of Belfast – Jude Hill.
According to Deadline, A Haunting in Venice is based on Agatha Christie’s Halloween Party, which is “set in eerie, post-World War II Venice on All Hallows’ Eve. 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.”
“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,” Branagh says.
Rounding out the cast are Kyle Allen (who will be playing He-Man in the upcoming Masters of the Universe movie), Camille Cottin (Call My Agent, Killing Eve), Emma Laird (Mayor of Kingstown), and Riccardo Scamarico (John Wick: Chapter 2). They of course will be surrounding Branagh himself, who plays Hercule Poirot, as well as directing.
Production is reportedly already underway at Pinewood Studios in London. The whodunnit is a genre that has had a recent resurgence and now seems firmly back – there is Rian Johnson’s follow-up to Knives Out, Glass Onion still to come this year. We’ve also had See How They Run (based around Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap), Confess Fletch (starring John Hamm), and The Outfit (starring Mark Rylance) – all come out in 2022. There was also Bodies, Bodies, Bodies which was marketed as a horror movie but was actually more of a whodunnit.
Although it seems like this third movie is coming hot on the heels of Death on the Nile, that film actually wrapped filming a long time ago and its release was delayed due to the pandemic and other factors surrounding the cast.
While we wait to hear more about Branagh’s latest whodunnit, check out our guide to the best detective movies.