Agatha Christie‘s classic mystery novel Murder on the Orient Express will get a new film treatment in the coming years with a master storyteller at the helm. Variety reported Saturday morning that Kenneth Branagh will direct, produce, and star as famed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. The star of screen and stage alike has previous directing credits with Thor, Henry V, and Cinderella.

If you’re not familiar, Christie published Murder on the Orient Express in 1934, and it is only one of many of her novels that star the brilliant detective Poirot. It was adapted to the screen first in 1974 and the all-star cast included Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery, John Gielgud, Vanessa Redgrave, Michael York, Jacqueline Bisset and Anthony Perkins. Bergman won her 3rd Oscar for her performance. The story has since been adapted to film and television a number of times. Fans of Doctor Who will recall the recent sci-fi retelling of the story in Mummy on the Orient Express. Across the various adaptations, the plot remains true in that it tells the story of a murder in a confined space (a train obviously) where there are many suspects who must be weeded through to find the culprit.

Fox’s new adaptation of the story will be produced by Ridley Scott, Simon Kinberg, and Mark Gordon alongside Branagh with Michael Schaefer and Aditya Sood also acting in producer capacity. The screenplay is being written by Blade Runner 2‘s Michael Green.

Take a moment and consider the pageantry of Branagh’s recent films Thor and Cinderella, and allow your imagination to run wild with the possibilities of what he could do with such opportunity. Tell us what you hope to see in the comments below!

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HT: Variety
Image: Warner Bros