Russell Brand Likely Joining DEATH ON THE NILE

It’s a beautiful thing when you fall in love with a film you expected to dislike. That’s exactly what happened to me when I saw Kenneth Branagh’s delightful Murder on the Orient Express. I loved the high-profile cast of actors doing character work, I loved the gaudy direction, and above all I adored Branagh massively vain but not unlikable Poirot.

So the upcoming sequel, Death on the Nile, is a big film on the horizon for me. Nothing can lower my excitement for it. Today that is being put to the test.

Collider reports that Russell Brand is in negotiations to join the film’s cast, a list that already includes Gal Gadot, Letitia Wright and Armie Hammer. It doesn’t matter who he is playing. He is Russell Brand. I know some people like him. I apologize to those people.

But consider this, the first film got by with none other than Johnny Depp in tow. It helped that he played a horrible villain, a benefit I doubt Brand will get here, but it goes to show that if the film is charming, it can survive a rough spot or two.

So there you go. I am still very excited about this movie, Russell Brand or no. Death on the Nile is expected to arrive October 9, 2020.