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 Starring Brannagh as eccentric detective
Hercule Poirot, the film premiered in London on Thursday and
features a star-studded cast, including Judi Dench, Johnny Depp,
Michelle Pfeiffer and "The Force Awakens" star Daisy Ridley.
"Previous film versions have been romps and they’ve been
wonderful, but it felt like with this group of actors it could
get a little more dark and a little more emotional, and surprise
and divert in a different way," Brannagh told Reuters at the
film's premiere.
A 'whodunit' tale, the film follows Brannagh's detective as he
seeks to unmask a murderer among the passengers on board the
glamorous train, trapped by an avalanche in mountainous terrain
in southern Europe.
Christie, who died in 1976 aged 85, is cited by the Guinness
Book of World Records as the bestselling novelist of all time.
Over 30 feature films have been based on her work, including a
1974 version of "Murder on the Orient Express," that saw Ingrid
Bergman win an Academy Award for her performance.
Despite a rich pedigree in print, film and television,
Brannagh's film represents something of a cinematic resurrection
for Christie's work, with the most recent previous cinematic
adaptation being 1985's "Ordeal by Innocence."
"It's been 30 years, I guess, since we’ve had a proper cinema
film," said James Prichard, Christie's great grandson and CEO of
Agatha Christie Ltd., the company which manages the rights to
her works.
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 "I'd love to say that it was a strategy, that
we held it back and refused to allow it, but actually we kind of
went out of fashion for a bit, certainly on the big screen."
"Murder on the Orient Express," is the first in an upcoming slew
of new film and television adaptations of Agatha Christie
properties, which include a production of "Witness for the
Prosecution," directed by and starring Oscar-winner Ben Affleck.
So, will Christie's Poirot go the way of modern-day cinematic
heavyweights, superheroes like Spider-Man or Iron Man, and spawn
a franchise?
"I think Ken’s been fantastic, and I think the idea of this
being a one-off Ken Poirot would be sad, so I’d love to see him
do more," Prichard said.
"Murder on the Orient Express," opens in the UK on November 3.
(Additional reporting by Francis Maguire; Writing by Mark
Hanrahan in London)
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