‘Orient Express’ Sequel ‘Death On The Nile’ In The Works

Your aunts and grandmas were right all along, Agatha Christie is cool. Actually, a couple The Playlist staffers are also secret/not-so-secret fans of the famed mystery writer. At any rate, she’s enjoying a renaissance thanks to “Murder On The Orient Express,” which has quietly circled the globe to the tune of $148 million and counting. Nope, it’s not superhero numbers, but evidently, 20th Century Fox has deemed the figure for the $55 million movie good enough to start working on a sequel.

Michael Green, who adapted ‘Orient Express,’ has been hired back to write the followup, “Death On The Nile,” with Kenneth Branagh to put on his outrageous moustache as Hercule Poirot and direct again as well. ‘Orient Express’ left a big, dangling opening for the followup, so good news for those who enjoyed the blockbuster, star-studded take — there will be another. Here’s the book synopsis for “Death On The Nile”:

The tranquility of a cruise along the Nile was shattered by the discovery that Linnet Ridgeway had been shot through the head. She was young, stylish, and beautiful. A girl who had everything . . . until she lost her life.

Hercule Poirot recalled an earlier outburst by a fellow passenger: “I’d like to put my dear little pistol against her head and just press the trigger.” Yet in this exotic setting nothing is ever quite what it seems.

“Death On The Nile” is not entirely dissimilar to ‘Orient Express.’ Despite the somewhat exotic location, it pretty much all unfolds on the river-steamer SS Karnak. And instead of the wintry cold, Poirot will deal with the Middle East heat.

No word yet on release dates or anything like that, but it’s probably safe to say this is a couple years away. [THR]