Daisy Ridley, Johnny Depp, Dame Judi Dench And More Sign To Star In Murder On The Orient Express

Daisy Ridley, Johnny Depp & Dame Judi Dench

Daisy Ridley and Johnny Depp are the latest additions to the all-star cast of Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, they’ll be joined by some of Hollywood’s biggest stars and stars of London’s West End – joining Ridley and Depp will be Michelle Pfeiffer, Michael Pena, Tom Bateman, Derek Jacobi and Dame Judi Dench.

As well as directing the classic Agatha Christie 1934 novel, Branagh will also star as the iconic Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.

In case you’ve never seen the Poirot TV show or read the novel, Murder on the Orient Express follows Poirot as he has to investigate a murder on the famous luxury train – but who among these wealthy passengers committed the crime?

So who are these A-listers playing, Depp will be the victim Samuel Ratchett, while Jacobi stars as valet Edward Masterman.

Meanwhile, Ridley, who shot to fame playing Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is taking on the role as governess Mary Debenham and Leslie Odom Jr, the Tony-winning star of Broadway musical Hamilton, will be Debenham’s love-interest Dr Arbuthnot.

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Dench will star as Russian Princess Natalia Dragomiroff, and Pfeiffer will be the glamorous Mrs Hubbard (this part was originally played by Angelina Jolie before she dropped out).

Image via Clemens Bilan/Getty Images

Lucy Boynton, who starred in my favourite film of 2016 so far Sing Street, will play Countess Helena Andrenyi.

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Bateman (star of the West End and the awful Jekyll and Hyde TV show, not his fault) and Ant-Man and War on Everyone star Pena will be playing original characters with Bateman as Frenchman M. Bouc and Pena as Cuban passenger Marquez.

Tom Bateman & Michael Pena

As well as big names in front of the camera, there are a few heavy hitters behind the camera too with Ridley Scott, Simon Kinberg (The Martian, Deadpool, X-Men) and Mark Gordon (Steve Jobs) will be co-producing alongside Branagh.

Briefly speaking to THR, the film-maker said: “Christie’s Murder is mysterious, compelling and unsettling, I'm honoured to have this fantastic group of actors bring these dark materials to life for a new audience."

Production is set to start in London in November and no release date has been set.

Murder could be the start of something interesting at Fox as they look set to focus on making some sort of Agatha Christie cinematic universe with Ben Affleck set to direct, star and produce another classic novel Witness For The Prosecution.