Angelina Jolie in Talks to Star in 'Murder on the Orient Express'
Angelina Jolie during her meeting with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Athens in March 2016 (Photo: Petros Giannakouris/AP)
By Tatiana Siegel, The Hollywood Reporter
Angelina Jolie is in talks to star in Kenneth Branagh’s mystery ensemble Murder on the Orient Express, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
If a deal is closed, Jolie would play Mrs. Harriet Hubbard, a role once played by Lauren Bacall in the oft-made adaptation.
Related: Angelina Jolie to Guest Edit BBC Radio Show
The Fox film based on Agatha Christie’s classic mystery has been in the works for years (the deal to secure the rights with the Christie estate was seven years in the making). Shooting is expected to begin in November in London and then move to Malta.
The story centers on special detective Hercule Poirot, who boards a train from Jerusalem to Europe only to have a murder committed in the car next to his during a snowstorm. Poirot tries to discover the murderer or murderers before there’s another victim.
Watch the trailer for the 1974 ‘Murder on the Orient Express’:
Sidney Lumet tackled perhaps the best-known adaptation of the book, considered to be one of Christie’s greatest, in 1974 for Paramount. Albert Finney starred in that version as Poirot, while Ingrid Bergman, Bacall, and Sean Connery were among the passengers/suspects.
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Michael Green (Green Lantern) wrote the latest screenplay.
Branagh is producing alongside Ridley Scott, Simon Kinberg, and Mark Gordon. Aditya Sood and Michael Schaefer are executive producing.
Fox has dated the film for Nov. 22, 2017.
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As a tentpole actress, Jolie remains one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars. But she has spent much of the past several years focusing on her directing career, tackling such films as Unbroken and By the Sea, in which she also starred opposite her husband Brad Pitt. She most recently helmed the upcoming documentary First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers for Netflix.
She is repped by UTA and Media Talent Group.
Angelina Jolie flashback: Watch a featurette from ‘Unbroken’:
