In a recent interview withThe Hollywood Reporter, 20th Century Studios PresidentSteve Asbelltalked about the studio’s recent and popular movies, and upcoming titles such as the sequels forFree Guy,Avatar, andPlanet of the Apes. Asbell also took a little time to praise and talk about the Hercule Poirot film series, which has proven itself quite successful at the box office and recently debuted its second installment,Death on the Nile.
The second incarnation ofKenneth Branaghas the famous detective premiered in early February and so far has grossed over $100 million worldwide – which isn’t a mind-blowing turnout, but it’s still a good number during pandemic times. And, regardless of how the murder-mystery movie performs at the box office at the end of its theater run, it seems like 20th Century Studios has already decided to move forward with the franchise — and a third installment could come earlier than we might think:
“We have the Poirot franchise, we have other Christie stories. I love these films, I love Ken [Branagh, who plays detective Hercule Poirot and directed ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ and ‘Death on the Nile’]. We have a third script written, by Michael Green, that is a pretty daring shift in genre and in tone. It’s post-war Venice and an adaptation of one of the lesser-known novels. So I think you’ll see the mustache again."
Asbell is right: there is no shortage of source material to keep the franchise going. Created by world-famous authorAgatha Christie, the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot has been featured in more than thirty novels ever since his first appearance, which means the peculiar investigator has plenty of more cases to solve onscreen. Aside from this, Agatha Christie fans will be happy to see lesser known stories from Poirot being adapted to cinema, sinceDeath on the Nileis the third adaptation of the story.
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Also worth noticing is that Asbell confirms that, as soon as the third Hercule Poirot movie is officially confirmed, director and leading man Kenneth Branagh will automatically be attached to direct. The Irish star is currently a contender to win the Oscar for Best Directing and Best Original Screenplay forBelfast, which is also a nominee for Best Picture.
Murder on the Orient Expresspremiered in late 2017 to great critical acclaim, and grossed over $350 million worldwide against a $55 million budget. It was expected thatDeath on the Nilewould have a similar turnout, but a series of factors have impacted its run, such as the release date being pushed back several times due to COVID-19.
Death on the Nile, starring Branagh,Gal Gadot,Annette Bening,Russell Brand,Ali Fazal,Rose Leslie,Sophie Okonedo,Letitia Wright, andJennifer Saunders,is currently playing in theaters.
