Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley & More Joining Murder On The Orient Express Remake

For almost a year, Kenneth Branagh has been putting together a new film version of Murder On The Orient Express, with himself in the lead role of Hercule Poirot. A few months ago he had Angelina Jolie interested in starring, but she’s since backed out.

However, he’s now got a raft of great names signing on, with the likes of Johnny Depp, Daisy Ridley, Judi Dench, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Michael Pena joining the movie, along with Lucy Boynton, Tom Bateman, Derek Jacobi, and Leslie Odom Jr.. It certainly suggests he wants to follow the lead of the star-studded 1974 version, which featured Lauren Bacall, Albert Finney, Sean Connery, Ingrid Bergman, John Gielgud, Vanessa Redgrave, Michael York and Jacqueline Bisset.

Christie’s novel is about a death on the world’s most famous train, when a man known as Mr. Ratchett is stabbed 12 times and killed. Hercule Poirot, who happens to be travelling on the Orient Express, starts to investigate, discovering that many people could be the culprit. Branagh’s version will start shooting in November.