As was the case for his adaptation of the Agatha Christie story MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, Kenneth Branagh’s upcoming sequel, DEATH ON THE NILE, is assembling quite the starring crew for the murder mystery. On top of nabbing stars like Gal Gadot, Letitia Wright, Armie Hammer and Annette Bening, word is that comedian Russell Brand is in talks to climb aboard for all the death and intrigue, as well as to bask in the glow of Hercule Poirot’s mighty mustache.
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Collider got the scoop that Brand is in talks to join the growing cast for the sequel, which will be adapted from the 1937 novel from Christie, wherein the famed detective Poirot (played by Branagh) is aboard a cruise in Africa when, once again, his master sleuthing skills are needed when a wealthy heiress is murdered on board.
This second entry comes off the heels of the surprisingly successful ORIENT, which made $352 million globally off a $55 million budget. Going through several release shifts, NILE was once set for December 2019 all before being bumped back almost a full year to its current slot of October 2, 2020.
Over the last few years Brand has slowed down a bit from starring movie roles since the start of the decade, recently providing voice work for the first two DESPICABLE ME movies as well as 2016’s TROLLS, while also starring opposite Nicolas Cage in the movie ARMY OF ONE for director Larry Charles. He also been busy presenting documentaries for the BBC, put out new stand-up specials for Netflix and is hosting his own podcast series, "Under the Skin".
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It's been a bit since I've seen him in a major movie, so it will be interesting to see among such a star-studded ensemble, including vets like Bening and Branagh. We have some time before we see anything in the way of set pics or promos, but right now we should expect there to be quite the clash between Poirot's mustache and Brand's beard. It wouldn't be a proper murder mystery without the murder of some facial hair, right?
DEATH ON THE NILE is in theaters October 2, 2020.