Under regular circumstances, audiences that loved Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express would be hyped for upcoming sequel Death on the Nile, and with good reason.
The sort of mid budget mystery thriller that Hollywood isn’t all that interested in making any more, the Agatha Christie adaptation scored solid reviews and hauled in $352 million at the box office back in 2017, so there’s plenty of goodwill towards whatever comes next.
Unfortunately, as well as suffering at the hands of the pandemic, which has seen Death on the Nile pushed all the way back from late 2020 to February 2022, a couple of key casting decisions have not aged well. As you an see below, the involvement of Armie Hammer and Letitia Wright has made it open season against the two on Twitter.
Hammer’s career looks to be in tatters after the series of unsettling allegations made against him, while Marvel Cinematic Universe fans are constantly voicing their disapproval at Wright’s Shuri being bumped up to center stage in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
It’s created a very unfortunate set of circumstances for Death on the Nile as a result, leaving director Branagh and 20th Century Studios in a very unfortunate position as the film finally edges closer to release.