Based on the reactions to the recently-released trailer, there’s a lot of people who have absolutely no interest in seeing Kenneth Branagh’s mystery sequel Death on the Nile, for the sole reason it features major supporting parts for controversial lightning rods Armie Hammer and Letitia Wright.
If you took all of the rumor and speculation at face value, then you could understand why audiences would be apathetic towards a literary adaptation co-starring a cannibal and an antivaxxer, never mind one that’s been sitting on the shelf gathering dust for two years.
However, in a turn of events we couldn’t possibly have predicted, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Death on the Nile has been approved for release in China, and will roll out theatrically on February 19. As things stand, that makes it the only American-backed production of 2022 to have been okayed for the world’s biggest market for cinema, and there’s every chance it’ll end up bombing based on how many similar titles have fared in the East during the pandemic.
Death on the Nile was initially scheduled for December 2019, and even though predecessor Murder on the Orient Express was a solid box office success, there’s little chance the second chapter in Branagh’s Hercule Poirot series will find anywhere near as much favor.
