A séance, a murder, an unsolved mystery…what else does an unforgettable Halloween party need?
Kenneth Branagh‘s “A Haunting in Venice” adapts Agatha Christie‘s novel “Hallowe’en Party” for a supernatural thriller with an all-star Oscar-winning cast behind the whodunit. Branagh, who directs, returns as famed detective Hercule Poirot, whose retirement is bungled after a party guest is murdered.
“A Haunting in Venice” is set in eerie, post-World War II Venice on All Hallows’ Eve and is a terrifying mystery featuring the return of the celebrated sleuth, Hercule Poirot (Branagh). 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.
Kyle Allen, Camille Cottin, “Belfast” star Jamie Dornan, Tina Fey, Jude Hill, Ali Khan, Emma Laird, “Yellowstone” star Kelly Reilly, Riccardo Scamarcio, and 2023 Best Actress winner Michelle Yeoh star.
Reuniting many of the filmmakers behind 2017’s “Murder on the Orient Express” and 2022’s “Death on the Nile,” the film is directed by Branagh with a screenplay by Oscar nominee Michael Green. Award-winning composer Hildur Guđnadóttir (“TÁR,” “Joker”) will score the film.
“This is a fantastic development of the character Hercule Poirot, as well as the Agatha Christie franchise,” Branagh said in a press statement. “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.”
20th Century Studios president Steve Asbell teased “A Haunting in Venice,” telling The Hollywood Reporter that the film is a “pretty daring shift in genre and in tone” compared to Branagh’s previous Christie adaptations. “It’s post-war Venice and an adaptation of one of the lesser-known novels,” Asbell said. “So I think you’ll see the moustache again.”
The producers are Branagh, Judy Hofflund, Ridley Scott, and Simon Kinberg, with Louise Killin, James Prichard, and Mark Gordon serving as executive producers.
“A Haunting in Venice” premieres September 15 in theaters. Check out the latest trailer below.
