If you’re looking for a movie with a controversial cast, you’d be hard-pressed to find one more chock full of disgraced stars than Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of the Agatha Christie classic murder mystery, Death On The Nile. The remake of the 1978 movie, and Branagh’s second outing as the detective Hercule Poirot following 2017’s Murder On The Orient Express, has been postponed multiple times, originally slated for a 2020 release and now moved back to February 2022.
Although Coronavirus restrictions on moviegoers have most likely played a part in the seemingly infinite postponement of Death On The Nile, fans suspect that its ill-fated repertoire of recognizable names has also had an impact. Gal Gadot and Armie Hammer lead the cast list, with the former recently slated for her controversial views on the Israel-Palestine conflict and the latter laying low after an influx of accusations of sexual abuse and, bizarrely, cannibalism. Russell Brand is also set to star, and though he has led a quieter life as of late, he also has several scandals under his belt.
And that’s not all — some fans are speculating that the movie is cursed after another cast member, Letitia Wright was ridiculed on social media for allegedly spreading her anti-vaccination views on the set of the upcoming Black Panther sequel. Now, Twitter users are calling for the movie to be put into the vaults and never released, and in the meantime, they’re going to town on the poor casting directors who are probably seriously regretting their decisions.
One person joked, “DEATH ON THE NILE has officially just shot past POLTERGEIST as ‘the most cursed film ever’” while another tweeted, “a long delayed movie starring a cannibal, an anti-vaxxer and a zionist. disney should just bin the movie”. While others praised the 1978 adaptation of the Christie tale, whose cast included Maggie Smith and Bette Davis, as the best possible adaptation, rendering Branagh’s retelling unnecessary. One fan of the John Guillermin directed classic wrote, “I don’t understand why there is so much discourse on the new Death On The Nile. Just watch this one instead as God intended you.”
It seems to be as good as anyone’s guess whether this addition to the Christie cinematic universe will ever see the light of day. Fans have noticed that Branagh himself, who is set to produce as well as star in the unreleased flick, has been very quiet about it despite wholeheartedly promoting his other projects. Let’s just hope that yet another cast member doesn’t decide to air their problematic views between now and February of next year!