Death on the Nile sets sail with a brand new trailer and poster

20th Century Studios is giving us a friendly reminder this morning that one of their long-delayed films is still set to hit the big screen. A new trailer and poster has been released for Death on the Nile, which reunites us with Kenneth Branagh’s Hercule Poirot who is the case for a new mystery.

Based on the 1937 novel by Agatha Christie, “Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot’s Egyptian vacation aboard a glamorous river steamer turns into a terrifying search for a murderer when a picture-perfect couple’s idyllic honeymoon is tragically cut short. Set against an epic landscape of sweeping desert vistas and the majestic Giza pyramids, this dramatic tale of love gone wrong features a cosmopolitan group of impeccably dressed travelers and enough wicked twists and turns to leave audiences guessing until the final, shocking denouement.” The film also stars Tom Bateman, Annette Bening, Russell Brand, Ali Fazal, Dawn French, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Rose Leslie, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, Jennifer Saunders, and Letitia Wright.

Death on the Nile has been hit with numerous setbacks heading towards its release, mostly due to delays because of the global pandemic. The film has been completed for more than a year and was originally set to hit the big screen in 2020. While the pandemic was one hurdle, the movie was dealt another problematic blow when one of its stars, Armie Hammer, was accused by multiple women of emotional abuse, manipulation, and coercion. The allegations led to Hammer losing several high-profile jobs, including a co-starring role with Jennifer Lopez in Shotgun Wedding and a series about the making of The Godfather on Paramount+. The conundrum with Death on the Nile is that the film was already completed before the allegations went public and getting around him being in the movie would be a difficult task. According to “The Hollywood Reporter“, options on the table for the studio were to reshoot the movie with a new star who could replace Hammer but that ultimately wasn’t feasible due to the scale of the film and gathering the ensemble cast back for the project would’ve been near-impossible at the time due to the pandemic.

Another option explored was to use digital technology to edit or alter the film but that would also be challenging because of the size of the cast and its intricate storyline. At the end of the day, the studio decided to move ahead with an exclusive theatrical release instead of shelving the film or selling it to a streamer because they felt it would be a disservice to the rest of the ensemble cast. There is also the case of franchise potential. 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express, also based on a Christie novel and featuring Branagh alongside another sprawling cast, grossed nearly $353 million globally. The hope is that Death on the Nile will repeat that business.

As for the new trailer, they’re not hiding Armie Hammer in it and it looks like they’re going with displaying him because there is more to this film than just him. The movie stars a slew of familiar faces that are also featured prominently in the trailer in the hopes that they will generate interest beyond the Armie Hammer problem.

Did YOU like the trailer? Death on the Nile hits screens on February 11, 2022. You can check out the new poster for the film below!