Kenneth Branagh has proven adept at pretty much anything he's attempted; whether its performing for the screen and stage, or stepping behind the camera as director. On multiple occasions he's directed films which he's also had leading roles, the last time being the failed Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit which everyone has already forgotten about. Over the summer he became attached to direct 20th Century Fox's remake of Agatha Christie's classic Murder On the Orient Express, but now he'll be starring in it, as well.
Branagh will play the famous Belgian detective with the funny mustache, Hercule Poirot, in the film. Michael Green, writer of the upcoming Blade Runner sequel, will pen th screenplay with Ridley Scott, Branagh, and Simon Kinberg listed as a producers. Considered by many to be Christie's finest work, the story finds Poirot solving the case of a murdered passenger while stranded on the train and finding that there are numerous suspects.
Albert Finney earned an Oscar nomination for playing Poirot in Sydney Lumet's 1974 adaptation of the book. But the most famous version must belong to David Suchet who played the detective for more than twenty years on British television. So Branagh has his work cut out for him. [THR]
