A lot of movie stars are on a train. Someone gets murdered. The natural question: Whodunit?
Probably Willem Dafoe.
Esteemed actor-director Kenneth Branagh revives yet another long-forgotten piece of IP with the upcoming Agatha Christie adaptation, “Murder on the Orient Express.” No, I don’t know why either. Here’s the official synopsis for “Murder on the Orient Express”:
What starts out as a lavish train ride through Europe quickly unfolds into one of the most stylish, suspenseful and thrilling mysteries ever told. From the novel by best-selling author Agatha Christie, “Murder on the Orient Express” tells the tale of thirteen strangers stranded on a train, where everyone’s a suspect. One man must race against time to solve the puzzle before the murderer strikes again. Kenneth Branagh directs and leads an all-star cast including Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley and Josh Gad.
At a recent London preview of 15 minutes worth of ‘Orient Express’ footage, Branagh discussed the rationale behind remaking this particular story: “I’m addicted to the work of great storytellers, so when you come back to a tale like Agatha Christie you’ve got a tremendous piece of entertainment, but you’ve also got something that touches quite deeply on loss and grief and revenge… Many of these characters have emotional secrets so a chance to combine a vicarious ride in the golden age of travel on the great Orient Express and then people it with the characters embodied by these actors who can bring this kind of detail and emotional depth to it, that was what was exciting to me.”
“Murder on the Orient Express” was produced in part by Ridley Scott and Simon Kinberg and also stars Derek Jacobi, Leslie Odom Jr., Olivia Colman. The film opens on November 10th.