Premiere in theaters: ‘Death on the Nile’, curiosities of the film starring Kenneth Branagh, Gal Gadot and Armie Hammer

After six delays since 2019 due to the pandemic and other aspects, Disney finally opens this Thursday in Ecuador death on the nilethe upcoming murder mystery thriller from director Kenneth Branagh (Thor2011), in which he also plays the central role: detective Hercule Poirot.

Let’s remember that the film -based on Agatha Christie’s 1937 detective novel- is full of stars, but it also had to go through certain hurdles before being presented on the big screen, such as that of Armie Hammer and the accusations against him for sexual abuse. This was just after filming was completed. In the months since this impasse, Hammer has practically been officially banned from Hollywood. The 35-year-old actor has denied all allegations. that have been formulated and have recently left a treatment center.

In any case, Disney had already indicated that the company had no plans to change Hammer or eliminate his role.

The actor isn’t the only famous face in the film as it focuses on the character of Branagh, along with an all-star cast that includes Gal Gadot, Letitia Wright, Annette Bening and Russell Brand.

Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) has a new crime to solve, this time on the Nile River.

The official synopsis of death on the nile notes that Belgian detective Hercule Poirot’s vacation aboard a glamorous steamboat in Egypt turns into a terrifying hunt for a killer, while the idyllic honeymoon of a perfect couple is tragically interrupted. Set against an epic landscape of expansive desert views and the majestic pyramids of Giza, this tale of unbridled passion and crippling jealousy features a cosmopolitan group of impeccably dressed travelers, and with enough evil twists to leave audiences unsettled and baffled to death. shocking outcome.

Namely…

• Gal Gadot’s mysterious femme fatale, Linnet Ridgeway-Doyle, is the murderous center of attention in the film’s official poster. Gadot is one of multiple A-list stars joining Kenneth Branagh’s Agatha Christie franchise.
• Kenneth Branagh’s previous role as Hercule Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express (2017) was also shot in 65mm format as well as its adaptation titled Hamlet by Kenneth Branagh (nineteen ninety six).
• The film reunites fellow comedians Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, who have found it difficult to stay serious. They have a series that airs on British television.
• At the end of Murder on the Orient Express (2017), Poirot is told of a “death on the Nile”. in the novel death on the nile, Poirot was on the ship before and at the time the first murder was committed. This may or may not constitute a discrepancy, since the “death on the Nile” mentioned at the end of Murder on the Orient Express it could refer to a death that occurs before the first one in the novel.

• The couple enjoying their honeymoon aboard the ship stars Gal Gadot and Armie Hammer.
• The film’s budget is estimated at £120 million (over $162 million).
• Branagh returns to work with Michael Green, the person in charge of the adapted script. He was responsible for writing Murder on the Orient Express (2017). He is known as a producer and writer for the films Logan (2017), blade runner 2049 (2017), Green Lantern (2011). With Disney she also collaborated to Jungle Cruise (2021)
• Despite playing an Armenian, Ali Fazal (Queen Victoria and Abdul2017) is Indian.
• Kenneth Branagh’s sequel comes at a time when the murder mystery genre is enjoying a surge in popularity on both the big and small screens alongside the franchise. Knives Out by Ryan Johnson and Only Murders in the Building from Hulu.

• Build a life-size replica of the luxury steamship SS Karnak (name of the ship in the novel and in the film), 72 meters (236 ft) long, 15 m (48 ft) wide and 13 m (42 feet) tall with amazingly appointed 1930s interiors, it was the greatest challenge for the filmmakers.
• for your work death on the nile‘The queen of literary crime’, as Agatha Christie (1890-1976) is known, was inspired by a wooden river ship, the Steam Ship Sudan (SS Sudan) that currently, despite the pandemic, continues to navigate that river as it did for the first time when the Egyptian royal family built it in 1885. Then in 1921 it became a tourist river cruise ship and as such it already was in 1933 when it had Agatha Christie and her second husband as passengers (from 1930 -1976), the archaeologist Max Mallowan.
• Agatha Christie was inspired by death on the nile after her first husband (from 1914 to 1928) -Archibald Christie- announced that he was leaving with another woman. In 1926, he told the novelist that he was in love with someone else and was leaving her. He sent Agatha over the edge and she famously ‘disappeared’ for 11 days.

• The writer’s car was found abandoned in an isolated location, sparking a frantic search for clues to find her that involved 15,000 volunteers, including the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle, bloodhounds and, for the first time in a police investigation, planes, while her husband was suspected of murdering her. But she was later discovered at The Old Swan Hotel (Yorkshire) registered under the name Mrs. Neele, the surname of her husband’s mistress, and she claimed not to remember how she got there.
• Agatha’s great-grandson, James Prichard, is one of the film’s executive producers. He has said that this adaptation is “the sexiest version ever made. More than 100 years after the publication of Agatha Christie’s first novel, her works of crime fiction remain immensely popular and continue to be discovered by people all over the world. I am delighted that Disney and our partners believe in this franchise, which has helped introduce millions of new fans to Christie’s classics.”
• death on the nile it has been adapted several times before, including by Agatha herself as a play, but the most memorable was the 1978 film with Peter Ustinov as Poirot appearing alongside Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury and David Niven. .