Aberdeen actress Rose Leslie is among the cast in a stellar line-up for Kenneth Branagh’s new film.
The Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey star is among some of the biggest names in the firmament who will appear in Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile.
It is the second screen outing for Mr Branagh’s take on Hercule Poirot after the box-office success of Murder on the Orient Express last year.
Production began this week on a new adaptation of the 1937 Christie novel, which involves Poirot travelling to Egypt to solve a murder after an idyllic honeymoon is shattered by violent deaths.
Mr Branagh will reunite with Tom Bateman, who plays Bouc, and they will be joined by Annette Bening, Russell Brand, Ali Fazal, Dawn French, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Rose Leslie, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, Jennifer Saunders, and Letitia Wright.
However, there is no mention of Killing Eve star, Jodie Comer, who was previously linked with the production.
Mr Branagh said: “Crimes of passion are dangerously sexy.
“Agatha Christie has written a riveting story of emotional chaos and violent criminality and Michael Green has once again written a screenplay to match.
“With a cherished group of long-time artistic collaborators and a brilliant international cast, it is truly a pleasure to join Disney, Fox and Agatha Christie Ltd in bringing this daring thriller to the big screen.
“There are significant new twists, an awe-inspiring desert landscape and a chance to celebrate big screen entertainment in glorious 65 millimetre celluloid!”
The synopsis for the film reads thus: “Hercule Poirot’s Egyptian adventure aboard a glamorous river steamer descends into a terrifying search for a murderer when an idyllic honeymoon is shattered by violent deaths.
“This sinister tale of obsessive love and its murderous consequences plays out in an epic landscape of danger and foreboding, with enough shocking twists and turns to leave audiences unsettled and guessing until the final, shocking denouement.
Death on the Nile is currently set to open on October 9, 2020.
