Hercule Poirot has achieved a hat trick. Kenneth Branagh’s live-action iteration of Agatha Christie’s most famous character has successfully completed a trilogy, as he has brought three Hercule Poirot stories to the big screen. Branagh, who both portrays Poirot and directs these films, kicked things off in 2017 with a modern take on the critically-acclaimed Murder on the Orient Express. He would follow that up with 2022’s Death on the Nile and donned the mustache once again for this month’s A Haunting in Venice. These stories have taken a village, as Branagh has had the help of long-time collaborators like cinematographer Harris Zambarloukos and executive producer James Pritchard.
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Pritchard’s role goes deeper than just producing, as the great-grandson of Agatha Christie serves as the CEO of his late great grandmother’s estate.
What’s Next For Hercule Poirot?
Speaking to ComicBook.com, A Haunting in Venice executive producer and Chairman, CEO of Agatha Christie LTD James Pritchard admitted that he has not pondered much about a fourth Hercule Poirot movie at this time.
“I try not to think too far ahead because things then start to go wrong,” Pritchard said. “So I think we’ll take baby steps and let’s hope that everyone enjoys this movie and it does really well and then we can have those conversations about what happens next.”
Pritchard said in a previous interview that the future of the franchise lies in Kenneth Branagh’s hands, noting that if Branagh wants to continue making these films, they will continue on. If and when Branagh entertains revisiting the franchise again, Pritchard mentioned that he has no shortage of remaining source material.
“The great thing is that my great grandmother I think wrote 33 full length Poirot novels,” Pritchard continued. “So we’ve got an awful lot to choose from. So the conversation needn’t be short.”
Regarding his personal favorites from his great grandmother’s catalog, Pritchard noted that his top choices often rotate.
“I have lots and it does tend to change. I think one of the things that I find extraordinary about my great grandmother is she was so consistent in her work. There really aren’t bad Agatha Christie novels. Whenever I read one, I am amazed by her ability to create a new original plot that works, that is credible, that doesn’t have holes in it,” Pritchard said. “Books like And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express are famous for a reason.
“I also have a sneaky admiration for A Murder Is Announced, which is a Jane Marple story. It has an extraordinary set up at the beginning. It shows a different skill or quality in my great grandmother’s writing in that it’s a look at a particular time in England. It’s set in the 1950s. If you read A Murder Is Announced, you really get to feel what a particular part of England was like in a particular part of its history. I think that is interesting in itself.”
A Haunting in Venice is currently in theaters.
