Kenneth Branagh Sets Impressive Cast For His Supernatural Thriller A HAUNTING IN VENICE
Director Kenneth Branagh has set up a supernatural thriller film project at 20th Century Studios titled A Haunting in Venice. The film is said to be unsettling and it’s inspired by Agatha Christie’s novel Hallowe’en Party.
Branagh managed to bring together an incredibly impressive cast that includes himself as he reprises his role of Hercule Poirot, Kyle Allen (Rosaline), Camille Cottin (Call My Agent), Jamie Dornan (Belfast), Tina Fey (30 Rock), Jude Hill (Belfast), Ali Khan (6 Underground), Emma Laird (Mayor of Kingstown), Kelly Reilly (Yellowstone), Riccardo Scamarico (Caravaggio’s Shadow), and Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once).
The film is set in eerie, post-World War II Venice on All Hallows’ Eve, A Haunting in Venice “is a terrifying mystery featuring the return of the celebrated sleuth, Hercule Poirot. 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.”
Branagh says: “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.”
Steve Asbell, president 20th Century Studios, says: “We are enormously privileged to continue our long collaboration with the incomparable Sir Kenneth Branagh and couldn’t be more excited by the bold new creative direction Ken, Michael, and the rest of the filmmaking team have taken with this latest film. We also remain grateful to James Prichard and the rest of our friends at Agatha Christie, Ltd., for their partnership and for once again entrusting us with, as Poirot modestly calls himself, ‘probably the greatest detective in the world.’”
Branagh will direct the film from a screenplay by Logan writer Michael Green. The movie will shoot at Pinewood Studios outside London and on location in Venice. It will open in theaters nationwide in 2023.