Kenneth Branagh reprises his role as the iconic detective Hercule Poirot opposite Camille Cottin, Michelle Yeoh, Tina Fey, Jamie Dornan, Jude Hill, Kyle Allen, Riccardo Scamarcio.
20th Century Studios’ new entry A Haunting in Venice is the third and weakest installment in Kenneth Branagh’s Agatha Christie-inspired movie series.
Based on Friday business, it looks for a gross in the $14 million range.
A Haunting in Venice is having a muted start and isn’t far ahead of the last film in the series, Death on the Nile, which opened to $12.8 million in February 2022, when the box office was still in recovery mode.
The sequel was among the many films delayed because of COVID-19; it also had to contend with negative publicity surrounding star Armie Hammer (he doesn’t appear in the new film). That film’s ensemble cast also included Gal Gadot and Letitia Wright.
Death on the Nile topped out at a subdued $137.3 million globally.
The studio 20th Century, division of Disney, kept the budget of A Haunting at $60 million to $70 million for the last one.
In 2017, Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express turned into a sleeper hit after opening to $28.6 million domestically on its way to earning more than $350 million worldwide.
The first film’s ensemble cast includes Michelle Pfeiffer and Johnny Depp.
All three received a B CinemaScore, although A Haunting has notably better reviews.
Branagh reprises his role as the iconic detective Hercule Poirot in A Haunting in Venice. The ensemble cast also includes Camille Cottin, Michelle Yeoh, Tina Fey, Jamie Dornan, Jude Hill, Kyle Allen and Riccardo Scamarcio.
Similar to other recent movies, Branagh’s film had to make its final publicity push without the help of cast because of the ongoing actors strike.
