It will be the first time the historic train, which usually begins its journey in Calais, has come to Britain and it will include a carriage that Christie used when she travelled on it.
Christie devotees are expected to flock to the star-studded premiere on November 2 and to see the train which inspired what many regard as the author’s finest work.
Kenneth Branagh directed the film and stars as the Belgium detective Hercule Poirot.
The cast includes Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dame Judi Dench, Daisy Ridley, Willem Dafoe, Josh Gad, Sir Derek Jacobi, Tom Bateman, Leslie Odom Jr, Olivia Colman, Lucy Boynton, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo and Sergei Polunin.
Branagh’s film is almost certain to be a global box office smash, largely due to the popularity of Christie, who once described the Orient Express as the “train of her dreams”.
She was travelling alone on the train in 1931 when it ground to a halt, an incident which may have given her the idea for the plot.
In a letter to her husband Max Mallowan, she wrote: “My darling, what a journey! Started out from Istanbul in a violent thunderstorm. We went very slowly during the night and about 3am stopped altogether.”
Branagh said: “I’m addicted to the work of great storytellers, so when you come back to a tale like Agatha Christie you’ve got a tremendous piece of entertainment.
“Many of these characters have emotional secrets so a chance to combine a vicarious ride in the golden age of travel on the great Orient Express and then people it with the characters embodied by these actors who can bring this kind of detail and emotional depth to it, that was what was exciting to me.”
Daily Express :: Entertainment Feed
