'Death On The Nile': Russell Brand May Board Kenneth Branagh's Murder Mystery

Kenneth Branagh's Death on the Nile has found its latest suspect.Russell Brand is in talks to join the Death on the Nile cast in the 20th Century Fox adaptation of Agatha Christie's 1937 novel that is being shaped as a sequel to Branagh's 2017 adaptation of Christie's Murder on the Orient Express.Collider broke the news that Brand is in negotiations to join the cast of Branagh's latest Agatha Christie mystery adaptation, Death on the Nile. If Brand boards the film, he'll be joining a cast that includes Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Letitia Wright, Tom Bateman and four-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening.Death on the Nile adheres to the typical narrative of a Christie whodunit, following the brilliant detective character Hercule Poirot on vacation on the Nile until the mysterious murder of a young heiress forces him to investigate the case before the ship reaches the end of its journey. Branagh is returning to direct and reprise his role as Poirot, following his turn in Murder on the Orient Express, which became a smash success to the tune of $350 million worldwide.

There's no word on who Brand is in talks to play, but for an idea, here are the characters from Agatha Christie's novel of the same name (via the Agatha Christie wiki):

Linnet Ridgeway, a wealthy young heiress, and her fiancé, Simon Doyle.

Jacqueline de Bellefort, Simon's spurned former lover.

American erotica novelist Salome Otterbourne and her daughter, Rosalie.

Mrs. Allerton and her son, Tim.

Linnet's American trustee, Andrew Pennington, who happened to run into her in Egypt.

Linnet's maid, Louise Bourget.

American socialite Marie Van Schuyler and her younger cousin, Cornelia Robson.

Miss Van Schuyler's nurse, Miss Bowers.

A young traveler named Mr. Ferguson, an outspoken Socialist.

An archaeologist named Signor Richetti.

A diffident young man named James Fanthorp.

An Austrian physician named Dr. Bessner.

A husband of an Egyptian native, Fleetwood.

It's unclear whether all these characters will appear as they're described in the movie, but as the cast grows, it's likely we'll see the majority of them. For now, we know that Gal Gadot is playing Linnet Ridgeway, Armie Hammer is Simon Doyle, and Letitia Wright is Rosalie Otterbourne. Our guess is that Brand could be playing Ferguson. Murder on the Orient Express screenwriter Michael Green returns to pen the Death on the Nile script, while Judy Hofflund, Simon Kinberg, Ridley Scott, Kevin Walsh, and Mark Gordon will produce.

Death on the Nile is scheduled to cruise into theaters on October 9, 2020.