In about two weeks, I’m going to drop a review here for Kenneth Branagh’s A Haunting in Venice, the latest film adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel. This time, it’s not set on the Nile or the Orient Express; instead, we have a lesser-known (and less liked) late novel, Hallowe’en Party – you remember, the one set in Italy where Poirot investigates a fraudulent psychic and solves a child murder by standing at the mirror reciting, “Candyman!” three times? I jest – although the trailer suggests I’m not that far off. Still, I have a feeling I’m going to enjoy this movie – and then I will post my review onto Facebook and watch the buzzards circle around screeching, “Sacrilege!” three times.

It’s a never-ending source of joy to me that my favorite author, whose final novel was published in 1976, is still a go-to source for screenwriters and directors all over the world. And it’s endearing that so many of her fans vehemently defend her honor when an adaptation veers from its source – although it’s ironic that a growing number of these purists have never actually read Christie’s books and base their objections on how David Suchet did it!

I decided to check out the Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB), an invaluable resource for those of us who love movies, to see projects based on Christie’s writing are currently in the works. My search yielded seven results, ranging in status from “in development” through “released.” For your interest, they are: 

• A Haunting in Venice – I believe this one is Kenneth Branagh’s final attempt to honor the memory of a beloved author (and enrage the purists amongst her fandom). It will be released on Friday, September 15. Watch this space (and the world stock markets) for reactions. 
• Charlie Chopra & The Mystery of Solang Valley – This is a TV adaptation of The Sittaford Mystery that premiered in July. It is directed by Vishal Bhardwaj and features Christie’s most famous sleuth, Punjabi detective Charlie Chopra. From what I can gather, Charlie is based on the novel’s heroine, Emily Trefusis, since it is Charlie’s fiancé who is suspected of murdering Brigadier Meherbaan Rawat on a snowy evening. All I can find are reviews of the pilot episode, and they are mixed. 
• Darkes Forest Blues is a short Western by Australian director Emma Johnston that she based on Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. I love the synopsis provided by IMDB: Mrs. Ratchett, the Sheriff of a small town, fears for her life after investing (sic) a murder case. She calls upon the Bounty Hunter, Miss Poirot for help.” The purists are going to loooooooove this!!!
• Murder Is Easy is the next adaptation to come from the same folks who produced the well-received Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? (I have yet to see that one as it hasn’t played on public television in the States; somebody has to push me to subscribe to BritBox!!) It bodes well that a lot of fans I know enjoyed Evans, and yet the youthful ages of the actors playing Lord Easterfield and Miss Waynflete makes me nervous. Still, it cannot get any worse than the abomination that appeared on Agatha Christie’s Marple!
• They Came to Baghdad – This one and the next two listed are iffy – and that might not be a bad thing. Development of this project, based on one of my least favorite Christie thrillers, was announced in 2018, with Christie’s great-grandson James Prichard listed as co-producer. But IMDB lists no writers, directors, or actors attached to the project, which leads me to believe it’s stuck in development hell. (NOTE: A 1952 adaptation of this novel from the American series Studio One recently dropped on YouTube. It’s a real coup and something of a chore to watch. Perhaps it also signals the curtailing of a new adaptation.)
• Death Comes as the End – This is the biggest disappointment of the bunch! When it was announced that the BBC intended to adapt Christie’s 1945 historical mystery set in ancient Egypt, with Gwyneth Hughes attached to write the screenplay, everyone got excited. Since then – silence! I suppose the longer we wait, the greater the uncertainty that it will ever happen. 
• Witness for the Prosecution was announced way back in 2016 with Ben Affleck attached to both direct and star. Can we consider this scratched, especially as that weird BBC version came out afterwards? I for one will only watch the film if Affleck plays Romaine.

That’s all that seems to be coming down the pike for now. Of course, given that several of these “projects” appear dead in the water, we cannot assume that when it comes to Christie, IMDB is the arbiter of all film-related information. Still, a guy can dream, can’t he? Especially when he runs an all-powerful blog like this one. I think the general consensus is that Branagh’s turning to a lesser-known (and less adapted) novel was a good idea, even if we’re uncertain what the result will be. I myself am far more willing to go along with whatever detours from the novel Branagh throws at us since I considerHallowe’en Party to be a weak late entry in the canon. 

By now, thanks largely to TV, nearly every Christie novel has been adapted – for good or ill, depending on your tastes. We don’t need to see a new Nile or And Then There Were None again in our lifetimes. And yes, I could veer into an argument for setting Christie aside and adapting John Dickson Carr or Christianna Brand or – dare I say it? – Brian Flynn!! But we’re talking about Christie, whose name among mystery authors is probably the likeliest to attract financing. I think the general consensus is that Branagh decision to adapt a lesser known title was a good one. As someone who isn’t particularly fond of Hallowe’en Party, I’m much more likely to go with the flow of this new adaptation. And while we’re on the subject . . . if you’ll bear with me here, I would like to pitch six more works as potential new adaptations. They include one Miss Marple project, one stand-alone and four Hercule Poirot novels. That means that we have to find a new Poirot. (Do you already hear the mutterings on Facebook???) Here they are in alphabetical order.

After the Funeral (1953)

This is my favorite Hercule Poirot mystery and one of the last that is expertly plotted and clued from start to finish. (Let’s all drool over that green malachite table!!) It has a wonderful cast of characters (which was fudged in the Suchet adaptation and completely done away with when Margaret Rutherford substituted Miss Marple for the real thing in the soggy Murder at the Gallop), a marvelous trick that is truly worthy of Agatha Christie, and arguably the best murderer in the whole megillah. At its heart lies one of the most difficult things to pull off well onscreen, (no spoilers, but ATF fans know!), but it’s a challenge worthy of overcoming when you have a story this good! 

There are two challenges as I see it. First, producers like to put Hercule Poirot on the move. Films have focused on his travel books, and Funeral is all England all the time! An adaptation would have to bring Poirot in earlier and have the lawyer Mr. Entwhistle function more as a Watson than as an independent agency. This would bring Poirot into the country and down to a village. This would also solve the second challenge which is that the novel is a real ensemble piece, with Poirot entering rather late in the game. Personally, I don’t mind that, but Liam Neeson or Michael Fassbender’s agent might have something different in mind.

Appointment with Death (1938)

We’re back to one of the most scenic of all Christie’s novels, one that has yet to receive a good adaptation. The 1988 movie looks like crap; not even a screenplay co-written by Anthony Shaffer and a cast of starts keeps it from looking and feeling cheap. As for the Suchet episode, written by Guy Andrews – it is a travesty. This one deserves a sumptuous look and fidelity to the plot. 

But here’s the thing: if After the Funeral contains the best murderer, Appointment with Death features one of Christie’s best victims, the odiously evil Mrs. Boynton. My pitch is to film the story with the play’s ending in order to keep the focus on this marvelous monster. (Just in case you want to know: va gur cynl, Puevfgvr gheaf gur abiry’f zheqrere vagb n pbzvp eryvrs punenpgre naq znxrf gur ERNY zheqrere . . . Zef. Oblagba urefrys. Xabjvat gung fur vf grezvanyyl vyy, gur ebggra byq ynql pbzzvgf fhvpvqr ohg qbrf vg fb gung gur funqbj bs fhfcvpvba jvyy unhag ure snzvyl naq znxr gurz zvfrenoyr sbe znal lrnef nsgre ure qrngu.) True, the play did not contain Poirot, but a really good screenwriter can fix that!

Hercule Poirot’s Christmas (1938)

1938 was a great year for odious parents who are ostensibly murdered by one of their children (but it’s never as simple as that in Christie.) Here it’s Simeon Lee, a venomous invalid who takes delight in tormenting his family during the holidays. Suchet’s adaptation was . . . fine, but this is a novel that cries out for the big screen treatment. Simeon’s murder is one of Christie’s bloodiest, the family members should all be cast with big names and allowed to run wild, and the solution is a Christie classic. Plus, by the time this happens, I myself should be old enough to play Tressilian, the decrepit old butler. It would be my honor!

BONUS: Given the title and the obvious release date, this could be our first actual “Christie for Christmas” in decades!!

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926)

After the mediocre TV adaptation, one has to ask whether the central conceit of this classic title is even possible to capture onscreen. I say it all depends on casting. The apparent normalcy of this novel – its bucolic village setting, attractive yet dysfunctional family, and charming new pair of Watsons for Poirot in the form of the Sheppard siblings would cast the audience back to a Golden Age of whodunnits – and then, in the right hands of a skilled director and writer, the rug would be pulled out from under us all. Say it can be done! Of course, whoever plays the next Poirot would have a field day with this one, but the big question is – who would play the murderer???? That casting is the key to the film’s success!

The Sittaford Mystery (1931)

Did you see the “adaptation” on Agatha Christie’s Marple? Oh, the humanity! God only knows what was going on in the writers’ room when Stephen Churchett sat down to butcher adapt what should be a stand-alone novel, not a Marple, that is brimming with atmosphere, what with its snowy Dartmoor setting and the way the plot skirts both the supernatural and the works of Charles Dickens. Seriously, producers, Sittaford deserves another chance, and with that secluded enclave of houses overlooking the cozy village set against the mountains during the winter, the film would look glorious. 

The Tuesday Night Club (a.k.a. The Thirteen Problems, but we want more than that!!)

This is my only pitch for a TV series. I propose we take the twenty short stories that Christie wrote about Miss Marple, add the twelve “new” stories written for the Marple collection, divide the thirty-two tales by four, and create four seasons of eight stories. We’d probably need to open up the Tuesday Night Club format for television; I would suggest flashbacks. Let someone talented, with a real love of Christie, do the work, and give the Miss Marple short stories – my favorite story collection of them all – the treatment they deserve. 

BONUS: Being a series, it would need series regulars. Of course, we have to find THE NEXT MARPLE, but think of the joy of finding the perfect Dolly and Arthur Bantry, the best Colonel Clithering, and the ideal Jane Helier! My mind swoons!!

And there you have it! Let me know what you think of my pitches and whether you have one of your own. Of course, we can still hold out hope that Death Comes as the End will see the light of day in the near(ish) future. And there’s still that idea being bandied about of a series about a young Miss Marple set in the Wild West. Or Branagh could make a final adaptation, this time of Curtain, where all the guests at Styles Court represent the bulk of Christie’s fans, and Branagh’s Poirot is horribly butchered by the lot of them. For far too many people, this will seem like divine justice. And we all know how much Christie liked the wicked to be punished.