For those eagerly anticipating Fox’s sequel to their 2017 sleeper hit Murder on the Orient Express, we’ve got some bad news for you today. Though the pic is still on its way and chugging along in development, it’s been hit with a rather large delay.
Set to be titled Death on the Nile, with Kenneth Branagh returning to direct and star as detective Hercule Poirot, the project was originally slated to open against a little known film called Star Wars: Episode IX on December 20th, 2019. Now though, it’s been pushed back all the way to October 2nd, 2020.
The reason for the delay apparently comes from something to do with the incoming Disney/Fox merger, which is set to change the entertainment industry in some pretty large ways. But as far as Death of the Nile goes, it seems we’ll be waiting quite a while to lay our eyes on it.
And as for what you can expect in terms of the plot? Well, the film is once again based on a classic Agatha Christie story and sees “detective Hercule Poirot investigating a murder during a luxurious cruise on the Nile River that he just happens to be on. But just as he identifies a motley collection of would-be killers, several of the suspects also meet their demise, which only deepens the mystery.”
Sounds like an exciting tale, and though the first movie wasn’t exactly a critical darling, I personally found it to be a harmless and enjoyable murder mystery and certainly look forward to seeing Branagh reprising his role for another entertaining whodunnit. It’s just a shame that we’ll now have to wait two years for the Murder on the Orient Express sequel to pull into the station.