20/12/2013 - Ridley Scott to produce Murder On The Orient Express remake

Fox has acquired the film rights to Agatha Christie’s iconic mystery novel Murder On The Orient Express from Acorn Productions Ltd/Agatha Christie Ltd, the UK based rights holding production arm of US-based RLJ Entertainment, Inc. With more than two billion books sold, Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time, and the 1934 novel features her Belgian detective Hercule Poirot investigating a murder on the Orient Express. Writers and cast have yet to be decided. Ridley Scott (Prometheus), Mark Gordon (Source Code [+see also:
trailer
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RLJ Entertainment owns a 64% share in Agatha Christie Ltd, which manages Christie’s literary works including more than 80 novels and short story collections, 19 plays, a film library of nearly 40 television films, and the characters Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.

RLJ CEO Miguel Penella said, “We are excited to be working with Fox as well as Ridley Scott, Mark Gordon and Simon Kinberg to produce a new, star-studded adaptation of one of the most well-known mystery novels of all time.”

Murder On The Orient Express was previously made into a 1974 film directed by Sidney Lumet. The film received six Oscar nominations, including best actor for Albert Finney as Poirot, and winning best supporting actress for Ingrid Bergman, who also won the corresponding BAFTA for her performance.

David Suchet portrayed Poirot in all the 70 television adaptations of Christie’s stories, including Murder On The Orient Express in 2010.