Death on the Nile was first released in several international markets on February 9, 2022, and in the United Kingdom and the United States on February 11, 2022, following several delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $137.3 million. A sequel, titled A Haunting in Venice, an adaptation of Hallowe'en Party, was released on September 15, 2023, with Branagh once again directing and starring as Poirot.
Plot
The film opens in Belgium at the Yser Bridge on October 31, 1914, in the hellish landscape of the front lines of World War I. Hercule Poirot's captain has been given a mission that is certain death for all his men. Poirot—a clean-shaven youth—advises his captain to follow a strategy that will accomplish the mission safely. It succeeds, but when his captain steps on a mine, Poirot is caught in the explosion. Poirot's fiancée, Katherine, visits him in the hospital. She tells him that love endures everything, and when he turns his ravaged face to her and asks, “What about this?” she kisses his hand and calmly replies, “Simple: You'll grow a moustache.”
In 1937, at a London club, Poirot — wearing an elaborate, perfectly tended moustache — watches blues singer Salome Otterbourne perform. He notices Jacqueline "Jackie" de Bellefort introducing her fiancé, Simon Doyle, to her childhood friend, heiress Linnet Ridgeway. After meeting Simon, Linnet agrees to hire him as her land agent.
Six weeks later, in Egypt, Poirot encounters his friend, Bouc, with his mother, Euphemia, and the trio attend the wedding of Linnet and Simon. Others join their honeymoon trip: Linnet's maid, Louise Bourget; Salome and her niece/manager Rosalie, Linnet's schoolfriend; Linnet's godmother Marie Van Schuyler with her nurse, Mrs. Bowers; Linnet's financial manager and cousin Andrew Katchadourian; and Dr. Linus Windlesham, Linnet's former fiancé who renounced his titled background. Linnet asks Poirot for protection from the obsessive and bitter Jackie, who has stalked the couple to Egypt.
To escape Jackie, the group boards the cruise ship S.S. Karnak. In his stateroom, Poirot whispers “Katherine, mon amour” to a photograph of her. Its glass is cracked. Linnet tell Poirot she distrusts her guests. Bouc reveals he is dating Rosalie, despite his mother's disapproval, and teases Poirot about Poirot's attraction to Salome. Poirot replies that his one encounter with love left him with a lifetime's regret.
After a boulder falls off a column and nearly crushes Linnet and Simon, the guests return to the Karnak to discover Jackie has boarded. Poirot tells Jackie that he, too, lost his love—when the train that was bringing her to visit him was shelled.
When Linnet goes to sleep, Simon confronts Jackie, who shoots him in the leg. When she attempts to shoot herself, Rosalie and Bouc intervene, taking her to Mrs. Bowers. Windlesham treats Simon.
The following morning, Louise discovers Linnet has been shot in the head. Her valuable necklace has been stolen. Poirot, assisted by Bouc, interrogates the guests, each of whom bears a grudge against Linnet or would benefit from her death.
Poirot reveals that Euphemia hired him to investigate Rosalie, who, he concludes, is more than worthy of her son's affection. Rosalie storms off and discovers Louise's body with money and her throat slit. Poirot suspects Louise blackmailed Linnet's killer.
Poirot and Simon interrogate Bouc. He found Linnet dead and stole her necklace to gain financial freedom from his mother, but panicked and put it in Euphemia's belongings. Bouc witnessed Louise's murder, but before he can reveal the killer, he is shot through the throat and dies; Poirot chases the killer, but only finds the discarded gun.
Locking the surviving guests in the boat's saloon, Poirot reveals that Simon killed Linnet, with Jackie as the mastermind. They are still lovers and arranged Simon's romance with Linnet to inherit her wealth. Simon drugged Poirot's champagne, and Jackie shot a blank at Simon, who faked his injury with paint stolen from Euphemia. While Jackie distracted Bouc and Rosalie, Simon killed Linnet, returned to the saloon, and shot his own leg, muffled by Van Schuyler's scarf. Jackie killed Louise with Windlesham's scalpel and Bouc with Andrew's gun.
As a final clue, Poirot reveals that the handkerchief used in the fake shooting, recovered along with the gun, had faded to pink instead of brown, proving the stains were not blood. Faced with Poirot's irrefutable proof, Jackie embraces Simon and shoots him through the back, killing them both with one shot. As the passengers disembark, Poirot is unable to voice his feelings to Salome.
Six months later, a clean-shaven Poirot visits Salome's club to watch her rehearse.
Russell Brand as Linus Windlesham, a doctor and Linnet's former fiancé
Ali Fazal as Andrew Katchadourian, Linnet's cousin and trustee
Dawn French as Mrs. Bowers, Marie Van Schuyler's nurse and lover
Gal Gadot as Linnet Ridgeway-Doyle, a wealthy heiress and Simon's wife
Armie Hammer as Simon Doyle, Linnet's husband and Jackie's lover
Rose Leslie as Louise Bourget, Linnet's personal maid
Emma Mackey as Jacqueline "Jackie" de Bellefort, Simon's scorned ex-lover and Linnet's ex-friend
Sophie Okonedo as Salome Otterbourne, a renowned jazz singer
Jennifer Saunders as Marie Van Schuyler, Linnet's godmother and a socialite-turned-communist
Letitia Wright as Rosalie "Rosie" Otterbourne, Salome's niece and business manager
Susannah Fielding as Katherine, Poirot's lover who is killed during World War I
Production
Development
In 2015, Christie's great-grandson James Prichard, chairman of Agatha Christie Limited, expressed enthusiasm for sequels, citing the positive collaboration with Branagh and the production team.[6] In May 2017, Branagh expressed interest in further installments if the first film was successful.[7] On November 20, 2017, it was announced that 20th Century Fox was developing Death on the Nile as a sequel to their version of Murder on the Orient Express with Michael Green returning to pen the script and Kenneth Branagh set to return as Poirot, and as the film's director.[8]
Principal photography began on September 30, 2019, at Longcross Studios in Surrey, England.[19][20] The film was supposed to be filmed in Morocco instead of Egypt, but filming took place only in England.[21]
In January 2019, Patrick Doyle, a frequent collaborator on Branagh's films (including the film's predecessor), was announced as the composer for the film.[30] The singing voice of Salome in the nightclub scenes is voiced by Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Mavis Staples.[31]
Release
Theatrical
The film had its world premiere in France and South Korea on February 9, 2022.[32][33] After having been rescheduled several times owing to the COVID-19 pandemic,[34]Death on the Nile was theatrically released on February 11, 2022, by 20th Century Studios.[35] The film was originally set to be released on December 20, 2019, before being rescheduled to October 9, 2020, due to production issues.[36] It was then pushed back two weeks to October 23, and again to December 18, in response to the domestic box office underperformance of Tenet during the COVID-19 pandemic. In November 2020, the studio removed the film, along with Free Guy, from its upcoming release schedule until further notice. The next month, the film was rescheduled to September 17, 2021. In March 2021, it was then moved to the current February 2022 date.[35] The film was banned in Lebanon and Kuwait due to Gadot's former association with the Israel Defense Forces.[37] The film was allowed to be released in Saudi Arabia and Tunisia.[38] The film was released in China on February 19, 2022, making it the first Hollywood blockbuster to be released in the Chinese market after The Matrix Resurrections, which was released on January 14, 2022.[39][40]
Marketing
Disney spent $18 million on television commercials promoting the film by the time it premiered in theaters. Social media analytic RelishMix said the film had a social media reach of 217.9 million interactions, "at social norms for a campaign that began 18 months ago in August 2020 and wrestled with Covid re-dates and other headline news, such as Armie Hammer." Deadline Hollywood said Disney's marketing campaign was "anchored on a socially media quiet Gadot, who was more active during Red Notice."[41]
The film was later released on Hulu and Netflix.[43] According to the streaming aggregator Reelgood, Death on the Nile was the most watched film across all platforms during the week of April 6, 2022.[44][45] According to Whip Media, it was the most watched film across all platforms in the United States during the week of April 8, 2022, to April 10, 2022.[46]
Reception
Box office
Death on the Nile grossed $45.6million in the United States and Canada, and $91.6million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $137.3million.[2]
In the United States and Canada, Death on the Nile was released alongside Marry Me and Blacklight, and was projected to gross $11–17 million from 3,280 theaters in its opening weekend.[47][48][49] The film grossed $12.9 million in its opening weekend, finishing first at the box office.[50] Overall audiences during its opening were 51% male, 77% above the age of 25, 47% above 35, and 28% above 45. The ethnic breakdown of the audience showed that 57% were Caucasian, 15% Hispanic and Latino Americans, 13% African American, and 15% Asian or other.[41] The film made $6.6 million in its second weekend,[51] and $4.5 million in its third, placing fourth both times.[52] The film earned $2.75 million in its fourth weekend,[53] $2.4 million in its fifth,[54] and $1.65 million in its sixth.[55] The film dropped out of the box office top ten in its seventh weekend, finishing eleventh with $630,520.[56]
Outside the U.S. and Canada, the film grossed $20.7 million in its opening weekend from 47 international markets.[57] The film opened in China on February 19, 2022. It opened poorly in the country, finishing fourth behind three Chinese holdovers with $5.9 million. Including its Chinese debut, the film earned $19.8 million in its second international weekend.[58] It made an additional $10.6 million from 47 markets in its third weekend, crossing the $100 million mark worldwide,[59] $5.1 million in its fourth,[60] $3 million in its fifth,[61] and $1.6 million in its sixth.[62]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 61% of 290 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The website's consensus reads: "Old-fashioned to a fault, the solidly entertaining Death on the Nile is enlivened by its all-star cast and director-star Kenneth Branagh's obvious affection for the material."[63]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 52 out of 100, based on 51 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[64] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, the same as its predecessor, while those at PostTrak gave it a 77% positive score, with 57% saying they would definitely recommend it.[41]
David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "For some of us who look back with affection on John Guillermin's lush 1978 screen version, there's a nagging feeling throughout that Branagh, while hitting the marks of storytelling and design, has drained some of the fun out of it."[65]Owen Gleiberman of Variety called the film "a moderately diverting dessert that carries you right along. It never transcends the feeling that you're seeing a relic injected with life serum, but that, in a way, is part of its minor-league charm."[66] Edward Porter of The Times gave the film three out of five stars, saying that its "gaudy style — combined with the melodrama of the script's modified take on Christie's plot — remains diverting even if some of the supposedly Egyptian backdrops look phoney."[67]Sandra Hall of The Sydney Morning Herald gave the film four out of five stars, writing: "While the gamble Branagh takes in disinterring Poirot's long-neglected sensitive side may be regarded as sacrilege by some, I think it works. Poirot has a yearning heart."[68]
Wendy Ide of The Observer gave the film two out of five stars, writing: "The camera whirls giddily, dizzy from the sparkle and spectacle, but not quite able to conceal the fact that this is an empty bauble of a movie."[69] David Fear of Rolling Stone wrote that the film "has its joys and flaws apart from that Armie factor, but it's almost like trying to assess whether the appetizer course could have been slightly undercooked while an elephant stampedes over the whole dinner table."[70]Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal wrote that the film "has pizazz and period style in the same way today's big-brand toothpastes have flavor – artificial ingredients give them a taste that's discernible, but too generic to name."[71]
In a December 2017 interview with the Associated Press, Branagh discussed developing the adaptation of Death on the Nile with the possibility of more films to follow, potentially creating a new "cinematic universe" of Christie films:[80]
"I think there are possibilities, aren't there? With 66 books and short stories and plays, she — and she often brings people together in her own books actually, so innately — she enjoyed that," he says. "You feel as though there is a world — just like with Dickens, there's a complete world that she's created — certain kinds of characters who live in her world — that I think has real possibilities."[80]
Branagh stated that discussions for additional films were ongoing in February 2022, hoping the film series becomes a franchise including other Christie characters, including Jane Marple.[81] By March 2022, 20th Century Studios President Steve Asbell confirmed a third installment was in development. Branagh returned as director and star, while Michael Green once again served as screenwriter.[82][83] Production for A Haunting in Venice began November 2022,[84] and was released September 15, 2023.
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