Unlabelled Murder on the Orient Express (2017 film)

Murder on the Orient Express (2017 film)

Murder on the Orient Express (2017 film)

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Murder on the Orient Express
Murder on the Orient Express teaser poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byKenneth Branagh
Produced by
Screenplay byMichael Green
Based onMurder on the Orient Express
by Agatha Christie
Starring
Music byPatrick Doyle
CinematographyHaris Zambarloukos
Edited byMick Audsley
Production
companies
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
Running time
114 minutes[3]
CountryUnited States[4]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$55 million[5]
Box office$312.5 million[5]
Murder on the Orient Express is a 2017 American mystery drama film directed by Kenneth Branagh with a screenplay by Michael Green, based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Agatha Christie. The film stars Branagh as Hercule Poirot, with Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Josh Gad, Derek Jacobi, Leslie Odom Jr., Michelle Pfeiffer, and Daisy Ridley in supporting roles. The film is the fourth adaptation of Christie's novel, following a 1974 film, a 2001 TV film, and a 2010 episode of Agatha Christie's Poirot.[6] The plot follows Poirot, a world-renowned detective, who seeks to solve a murder on the famous European train in the 1930s.
Principal photography began in November 2016 in the United Kingdom; it is one of the few in recent decades to use 65mm film cameras. Murder on the Orient Express had its world premiere on November 2, 2017 at Royal Albert Hall in London and was released in the United States on November 10, 2017, by 20th Century Fox.[7] The film has grossed over $312 million worldwide and received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for the cast's performances and the production value, but criticism for not adding anything new to previous adaptations.[8]

Plot[edit]

In 1934, famous detective Hercule Poirot solves a theft at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The obsessive compulsive Belgian—who seeks balance in life, and considers his case-solving ability to see a lie amid truth a curse—wants to rest in Istanbul but must return to London for another case. His friend Bouc, director of the Orient Express, offers him a room on the train.
Poirot refuses businessman Samuel Ratchett's offer to hire him as his bodyguard during the three-day journey, as Ratchett has received threatening letters from an unknown party. That night Poirot hears strange noises coming from Ratchett’s compartment, and sees someone in a red kimono running down the hallway. An avalanche derails the train and strands the passengers.
The next morning Poirot learns Ratchett was murdered during the night after being stabbed a dozen times. Poirot and Bouc investigate passengers as repairs begin. Evidence indicates that Ratchett was murdered by one person, with Caroline Hubbard claiming that a man was in her compartment during the night. Poirot discovers a partially destroyed note connecting Ratchett to the kidnapping of Daisy Armstrong, a child who was abducted from her bedroom and held for ransom. After the ransom was paid, Daisy was found murdered. Ratchett is identified as John Cassetti, Daisy’s kidnapper and murderer. Her death caused her mother Sonia to die after giving premature birth to a stillborn baby; her father, Colonel Armstrong, then committed suicide. The family’s nursemaid Susanne was arrested and hanged herself while in police custody, but exonerated after her death.
More evidence is found, including a bloodstained handkerchief and the button of a conductor’s uniform found in Hubbard’s compartment. The uniform is later found, as is the kimono, discovered in Poirot’s own suitcase. Hubbard is stabbed in the back; she survives but cannot identify the culprit. Poirot discovers several of the passengers have direct connections to the Armstrong family. While interviewing governess Mary Debenham, John Arbuthnot shoots Poirot in the shoulder claiming that he is the murderer, but is stopped by Bouc. Poirot realizes that Arbuthnot—a medical doctor and former army sniper—never meant to kill him.
Poirot meets the suspects outside the train, offering two theories of how Ratchett died. The first is simple: A murderer disguised as a conductor boarded the train, murdered Ratchett, and fled. The second is more complex: Every suspect is connected to the Armstrongs, Susanne, or her trial in some way—including those who had pretended otherwise—and had motive to kill Ratchett/Cassetti. Hubbard is revealed to be Linda Arden, former stage actress and Sonia Armstrong's mother.
Hubbard admits that she gathered everyone and planned the murder. All of the suspects took turns stabbing Ratchett. Arbuthnot stabbed Hubbard without endangering her life to convince Poirot of a lone killer. Poirot challenges the passengers to shoot him with his gun since he is the only one who can expose their plot; Bouc can lie but Poirot—obsessed with truth and balance—cannot. Hubbard grabs the gun and tries to kill herself. The gun is unloaded; Poirot wanted to see how the suspects would react.
As the train is rerailed Poirot concludes that justice is impossible in the case, as Ratchett deserved death; for the first time he will have to live with a lie and imbalance. Poirot presents the lone killer theory to the Yugoslavian police, allowing the suspects to leave. As he disembarks the train a messenger asks him to investigate a death on the Nile. Poirot takes the case.

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

20th Century Fox announced the project in December 2013.[9] Michael Green wrote the screenplay for a new film adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express. On June 16, 2015, it was reported Fox was in talks with Kenneth Branagh to direct.[10] On November 20, 2015, it was announced that Branagh would direct the film and star in the role of detective Hercule Poirot.[11] He later said that he "enjoyed finding the sort of obsessive-compulsive in [Poirot] rather than the dandy".[12] On June 10, 2016, it was reported that Angelina Jolie was in early talks to co-star in the film.[13] Variety reported on August 4 that she would not sign on to star, while the studio was looking for other actresses like Charlize Theron.[14] On August 17, Variety reported that Leslie Odom Jr. was in talks to join the cast in an unspecified role.[15] On September 6, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Tom Bateman had joined the cast as Bouc.[16] On September 29, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley, Judi Dench, Michael Peña, Derek Jacobi, and Lucy Boynton were added to the cast.[17][18] On October 20, Josh Gad was cast in the film to play Hector MacQueen.[19] On October 27, Marwan Kenzari joined the cast as the French conductor of the train.[20] On November 11, Penélope Cruz joined the cast in an unspecified role,[21] later revealed to be Pilar Estravados (a Hispanic version of the novel's Swedish Greta Ohlsson, borrowing the name of a character in Hercule Poirot's Christmas).[22] On December 5, Sergei Polunin joined the cast in an undisclosed role,[23] later revealed to be the Count Andrenyi.[24] On January 5, 2017, Willem Dafoe joined the cast of the film as an undercover detective.[25] On January 9, Olivia Colman revealed that she had been cast as Princess Dragomiroff's maid.[26] On January 25, it was revealed that Peña had dropped out of the film and that Manuel Garcia-Rulfo had replaced him as Biniamino Marquez (a Cuban version of the novel's Italian Antonio Foscarelli).[27]
Principal photography on the film began on November 22, 2016, in the United Kingdom[28][29] and concluded in May 2017. It used some of the same 65mm filmcameras as Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk, which Branagh had acted in shortly before this production.[30] These two were among the very few to be shot on 65mm film since Branagh's Hamlet in 1996, and the only ones released in 2017.[1][2] While in post, Branagh "was Skyped in from thousands of miles away" to watch Pfeiffer record an original song called "Never Forget" for the film's finale. "As soon as we added it on to the end of the film, it joined seamlessly and gave a moment of reflection and consideration that the film needed and wanted," said Branagh.[31]

Release[edit]

Murder on the Orient Express was released in the United Kingdom on November 3, 2017 and in the United States on November 10, 2017, by 20th Century Fox.[32] The first look at the film and cast was released on May 3 in an exclusive article by Entertainment Weekly.[33]

Reception[edit]

Box office[edit]

As of December 30, 2017, Murder on the Orient Express has grossed $100.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $212.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $312.5 million, against a production budget of $55 million.[5]
In the United States and Canada, Murder on the Orient Express was released alongside Daddy's Home 2, and was projected to gross around $20 million from 3,341 theaters in its opening weekend.[34] The film made $10.9 million on its first day, including $1.6 million from Thursday night previews at 2,775 theaters. It ended up grossing $28.7 million, finishing 3rd at the box office behind holdover Thor: Ragnarok and Daddy's Home 2. 51% of the film's opening weekend audience was over the age of 35.[35] In its second weekend the film made $13.8 million (a drop of 51.9%), finishing 5th behind Justice League, Wonder, Thor: Ragnarok and Daddy's Home 2.[36]

Critical response[edit]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 57% based on 228 reviews, with an average rating of 6.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Stylish production and an all-star ensemble keep this Murder on the Orient Express from running off the rails, even if it never quite builds up to its classic predecessor's illustrious head of steam."[37] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 52 out of 100, based on 45 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[38] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[35]
Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B+ and called the film "a lushly old-fashioned adaptation wrapped in a veritable turducken of pearls, monocles, and international movie stars."[39] Blake Goble of Consequence of Sound said "Handsomely staged, exceptionally well-cast, and reasonably faithful, Branagh has revived Murder on the Orient Express in a highly pleasing fashion."[40] Trace Thurman of Bloody Disgusting gave the film three and a half skulls and said "For those looking for an involving murder mystery that is respectful of its source material and filled with an all-star cast, look no further than Murder on the Orient Express."[41] Matt Goldberg of Collider gave the film a B− calling it a "handsomely crafted production" albeit one that "falls apart at the climax of the film."[42] Josephine Livingstone of The New Republic praised the film's "stylized gorgeousness", but said that Branagh's change of "Poirot's fussiness ... into obsessive compulsive tendencies" was "less distinct and, ultimately, less interesting".[43]
On the negative side, Matthew Jacobs of The Huffington Post was impressed by the cast but ultimately felt "Agatha Christie’s whodunit has no steam."[44] Peter Traversof Rolling Stone found that there were many dull moments and that the film was a needless remake.[45] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film two and a half stars, and stated that he felt the film focused too much on Poirot, to the detriment of the other characters, saying, "Never let it be said the director misses an opportunity to place his star front and center, unfortunately relegating just about everyone else in the obligatory International All-Star Cast to a paper-thin character with one or at most two defining personality traits."[46] Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club rated the film a C+ and complained that Branagh's "erratic direction—more interested in cut glass and overhead shots than in suspicions and uncertainties—bungles both the perfect puzzle logic of the crime and its devious solution."[47]Christopher Orr of The Atlantic said the film was "visually sumptuous yet otherwise inert" and summed up "Murder on the Orient Express is not a bad movie per se, merely one that feels self-indulgent and thoroughly unnecessary."[48]

Sequel[edit]

In 2015, James Prichard, Chairman of Agatha Christie Ltd. and Christie's great-grandson, expressed enthusiasm for sequels, citing the collaboration with Branagh and the production team.[11] In May 2017, Branagh expressed interest in further installments if the film is a success.[49] On November 20, 2017, Twentieth Century Fox announced that a sequel, based on the 1937 novel Death on the Nile, was in active development with Michael Green, screenwriter of the first film, returning to pen the screenplay. Branagh was stated as being likely to return as director and star.[50]
In an interview with Associated Press in December 2017, Branagh discussed developing an adaptation of Death on the Nile with the possibility of even more films to follow with a potential "cinematic universe" of Poirot films.[51]
“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.”[51]

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