Sir Kenneth Branagh to direct and star in Murder on the Orient Express.

AN all-star cast has been announced for the brand new feature film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s acclaimed mystery Murder on the Orient Express.

The novel was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on January 1, 1934. In the story, which has been adapted for film and television several times, Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, has just concluded a case and is heading back to London aboard the Orient Express.

Instead of the relaxing journey he is expecting, however, he finds himself hunting a murderer when the American billionaire, Samuel Ratchett, is found stabbed inside a locked compartment.

With the train stuck in a snowdrift, Poirot soon discovers that his fellow passengers have plenty of motives for getting rid of the victim.

The new 20th Century Fox adaptation is being directed by Kenneth Branagh, who will also star as Christie’s famous detective.

He will be joined by Johnny Depp as Ratchett, Michelle Pfeiffer as Mrs Hubbard, Star Wars’ heroine Daisy Ridley as Mary Debenham, Oscar winner Judi Dench as Princess Dragomiroff, Lucy Boynton as Countess Andrenyi, Tom Bateman as Bouc, stage actor and Tony winner Derek Jacobi as Masterman, Michael Peņa as Marquez (Foscarelli), and Hamilton star Leslie Odom Jr. as Doctor Arbuthnot.

Murder on the Orient Express will begin production in November in London.