Kenneth Branagh’s ‘Death on the Nile’ to Be Filmed in Egypt

Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile, the sequel to his 2017 box office hit Murder on the Orient Express, has finally been cleared for production, Den of Geek reports. Filming is already underway at Longcross Studios outside London and on location in Egypt, according to the magazine, and is slated for release in October 2020.

The film is adapted from Agatha Christie’s 1937 novel of the same name and will see Branagh reprise his role as Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Death on the Nile is set in 1930s Egypt, aboard the Karnak, a luxury cruise ship, and follows the beloved detective on another murder mystery when a passenger, heiress and socialite Linnet Ridgeway Doyle (Gal Gadot), is killed during the voyage.

In addition to Gadot and Branagh, who will also be directing and producing the film, Death on the Nile will also star Black Panther’s Letitia Wright, Oscar nominee Annette Bening, Game of Thrones’ Rose Leslie, Emma Mackey, Ali Fazal, Armie Hammer, Sophie Okonedo, and British comedian Russel Brand.

This is the second film adaption of Christie’s popular crime mystery novel, the first being the 1978 John Guillermin-directed Death on the Nile, starring Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot, Mia Farrow, Bette Davis, and Maggie Smith.

The 1978 adaptation was shot in different places across Egypt, including the Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan, where scenes from the novel are set. Christie herself is said to have been a frequent visitor of the legendary establishment.