If Kenneth Branagh‘s facially hirstute turn as Agatha Christie‘s detective Hercule Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express made you a fan, you don’t have to wait for Branagh to find time to do the sequel for more. While the character will once again be Branagh-portrayed on the big screen, here on our TVs he is busy being John Malkovich in The ABC Murders. Starting February 1st, you can watch Malkovich’s take on the character in a limited series that already aired on BBC One in the UK, and will be an Amazon Prime exclusive here.
A hallmark of Poirot in any incarnation has always been his Belgian accent, and Malkovich’s take on that is as amusing as you might expect. But he definitely has the look of somebody you don’t want to commit a murder around down pat.
Those are some particularly brutal looking deaths for a Christie adaptation! The ABC Murders, in which the killer offers both an ABC railway guide and the names of their victims as clues, has previously been adapted as a comedy starring Tony Randall, a video game for Nintendo DS and other platforms, an anime and manga, a story arc in the David Suchet Poirot series, and a radio drama. To do it again, you need a big gun like Malkovich who’ll make it very much his own; if you’re watching for the first time, be warned that the spoilers are out there.
Rupert Grint, Andrew Buchan, Shirley Henderson, and Tara Fitzgerald also star. Kenneth Branagh’s massive mustache has no comment at this time.
Images: BBC/Amazon Prime