Add Josh Gad to the list of potential suspects aboard Kenneth Branagh’s Murder On The Orient Express remake.
Gad, who is coming off a string of light-hearted comedies thanks to Pixels and The Angry Birds Movie, has agreed to terms to play Hector MacQueen in Fox’s pulse-pounding thriller, a “nervous, skittish man who drinks too much.” He’s said to have a flair for languages, and works under Johnny Depp’s American businessman and tycoon Mr. Ratchett as an assistant/translator.
Kenneth Branagh, who will also head up the investigation as detective Hercule Poirot, has been attached to this new take on Agatha Christie’s classic for some time, and though things looked to have taken a turn for the worse after Angelina Jolie disembarked, the remake has bounced back remarkably well.
Completing the Dark Shadows reunion, Michelle Pfeiffer joins Depp and now Gad as Mrs. Hubbard, a flamboyant passenger who appears to be masking a mysterious secret. The cast of A-listers doesn’t stop there, however, with The Force Awakens breakout Daisy Ridley, Ant-Man star Michael Pena, Leslie Odom Jr., Tom Bateman, Lucy Boynton, Derek Jacobi and the inimitable Dame Judi Dench all on board for Fox’s long-gestating redo. It’s a truly remarkable mix of established screen actors and rising stars, and it’ll be fascinating to see how they intermingle as the Orient Express makes its long journey from Istanbul – then known as Constantinople – to Paris. Ridley Scott, Simon Kinberg, Mark Gordon are among the producers attached.
Murder on the Orient Express is barrelling down on its November 17, 2017 release date. Production is expected to grind into motion some time next month.