Finding Daddy Blake

Murder on the Orient Express is a 2017 mystery film co-produced and directed by Kenneth Branagh from a screenplay by Michael Green, based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Agatha Christie. It is the first installment of the Hercule Poirot film series. The film stars an ensemble cast with Branagh as Hercule Poirot, alongside Tom Bateman, Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Josh Gad, Derek Jacobi, Leslie Odom Jr, Michelle Pfeiffer, Olivia Colman, and Daisy Ridley. The plot follows Poirot, a world-renowned Belgian detective, as he investigates a murder on the luxury Orient Express train service in the 1930s. Principal photography began in November 2016 in the United Kingdom; it is one of the few productions in recent decades to have used 65 mm film cameras. Murder on the Orient Express had its world premiere on November 2, 2017, at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and was released theatrically in the United Kingdom on November 3, 2017, and in the United States on November 10, 2017, by 20th Century Fox. The film grossed over $353 million worldwide and received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for the cast performances and production values, but criticism for the screenplay and redundancy to previous adaptations. Two sequels, Death on the Nile (2022) and A Haunting in Venice (2023), were released to improved critical reception but diminishing commercial performance.