Kenneth Branagh: AudioBook and Movie - Murder on the Orient Express

From HarperCollins:

Kenneth Branagh, the director and star of the forthcoming motion picture adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, has recorded a new audiobook version of the Queen of Mystery’s bestseller for HarperCollins. The new digital audio is on-sale October 31st, prior to the nationwide release of Murder on the Orient Express in the United States on November 10th.

Kenneth Branagh, who plays Poirot in the Twentieth Century Fox adaptation, recorded the new audiobook for HarperCollins UK. He is the latest actor to take on the legendary detective, following portrayals from actors including Charles Laughton, Albert Finney, Peter Ustinov and David Suchet.

HarperCollins Publisher of Estates, David Brawn, said: “Agatha Christie has been a jewel in HarperCollins crown for nearly half of our 200 years of publishing, so how wonderful that in our anniversary year comes one of the most exciting Christie adaptations in many years. Murder on the Orient Express is one of her most important and celebrated works, and of course it features probably her greatest creation, Hercule Poirot. Kenneth Branagh is inspired casting and it is wonderful that, as well as directing and starring in the film adaptation, he is narrating a new audiobook of the original text, which will mesmerise fans new and old.

November 2017 will see the release of 20th Century Fox’s feature film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. The film will be directed by five-time Academy Award nominee Kenneth Branagh, who will also star as Poirot. Branagh helms an all-star cast that includes Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Penelope Cruz, Olivia Colman, Willem Dafoe, Daisy Ridley, Tom Bateman, Derek Jacobi, Josh Gad, Leslie Odom Jr, Sergei Polunin and Lucy Boynton.
 

KENNETH BRANAGH AS HERCULE POIROT

Kenneth Branagh has been announced as the director of a remake of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. The British star will also take on the role of the famous Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, in 20th Century Fox's feature film.

Branagh joins script writer Michael Green and producers Ridley Scott, Simon Kinberg and Mark Gordon to work on this big screen adaptation of the Christie classic.

Poirot was played by Albert Finney in the 1974 film version, earning him an Oscar nomination. David Suchet played the character in the British TV series, while John Moffatt starred in the 90s radio version on BBC Radio 4.

Agatha Christie's great grandson and Chairman of Agatha Christie Ltd, James Prichard, said, “The extraordinary thing about my great grandmother’s stories is just how timeless they are. 80 years after the publication of the novel, Fox will bring Murder on the Orient Express to new audiences across the world. We are genuinely excited about this partnership and with 33 Poirot stories to be told, we look forward to this being the first of many collaborations.”

Wallander III: Masterpiece Mystery!

Wallander III returns on MASTERPIECE Mystery! PBS
Sundays, September 9-23, 2012, 9 to 10:30pm ET on PBS

Kenneth Branagh returns as Inspector Kurt Wallander, the moody Swedish detective created by mystery author Henning Mankell.

An Event in Autumn — Sunday, September 9, 2012 at 9pm ET
A pregnant woman leaps to her death from the side of a ferry. Or was she pushed? The routine case barely disturbs Wallander's newly blissful life with Vanja (Saskia Reeves, Page Eight), his lover from the end of series 2. But then the happy couple discovers a decade-old corpse of a murdered woman on their property. With Wallander's work now getting too close to home, he follows the leads of two investigations that get increasingly entangled. On top of it, tragedy strikes one of his colleagues, and Wallander blames himself — with good reason.

The Dogs of Riga — Sunday, September 16, 2012 at 9pm ET
A raft adrift in Swedish waters has a grisly cargo: two horribly tortured Latvian corpses. Arriving to investigate from Latvia's capital, Riga, is an enigmatic police major. He reports back to headquarters and then disappears. After hearing reports of his death, Wallander goes to Riga and meets the major's wife, Kristina (Rebekah Staton, Tess of the D'Urbervilles). Together, they get embroiled in a desperate search for files that may document high-level corruption that threatens to make Wallander and Kristina the next victims.

Before the Frost — Sunday, September 23, 2012 at 9pm ET
An escapee from a psychiatric hospital sets fire to a flock of geese and then incinerates a passing hiker. And he's far from finished. While investigating, Wallander is unexpectedly visited by Anna, an old friend of his estranged daughter, Linda (Jeany Spark). Then Anna disappears. As the arson attacks mount, it appears that Anna may be connected. Duty demands that Wallander reconcile with Linda and join forces to find Anna at all costs. But father-daughter concord is hardly helped by Linda's memory that her dad once had an affair with Anna's mother.

Watch Wallander: An Event in Autumn Preview on PBS. See more from Masterpiece.

Judi Dench in Henning Mankell's Italian Shoes

Judi Dench will reunite with Kenneth Branagh for an adaptation of Henning Mankell's novel, Italian Shoes, which Branagh as director, hopes will include Anthony Hopkins in the lead role.

He hopes to cast Anthony Hopkins as Fredrik Welin, a retired orthopaedic surgeon who retreats to an isolated island, only to be forced back into human contact when an old girlfriend (Dench) comes to visit.

Read more: The Guardian

Hat Tip: Rhian Davies

Kenneth Branagh: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Variety reported that Fox 2000 "is circling" Kenneth Branagh to direct The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, based on the novel by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer.

The film, which is being produced by Paula Mazur and Mitchell Kaplan from a script by Dan Roos, is expected to begin production in the spring.


Hat Tip: Shelf Awareness