Kenneth Branagh has confirmed that his next Hercule Poirot film Death on the Nile is lining up Killing Eve star Jodie Comer for a main role.

The sequel to Murder on the Orient Express is also set to star Wonder Woman's Gal Gadot and Call Me By Your Name's Armie Hammer.

In a recent interview with Empire Magazine, Branagh mentioned in passing that Comer will join the other two stars to form the "central trio" of characters.

Sid Gentle Films/Nick Briggs BBC

Asked about the pressure of matching the cast of the last film – which starred the likes of Judi Dench, Michelle Pfeiffer, Johnny Depp, Daisy Ridley, Olivia Colman, Willem Dafoe and Derek Jacobi – Branagh said: "Yes. It's a big challenge. All being well, we have Gal Gadot, Jodie Comer and Armie Hammer. That central trio I'm very excited about it.

"We're in the process of casting the rest. We want the same sense of event. Something I'm pleased about is that I bump into a lot actors I admire and they ask, 'Can I be in the next one?!' So I'll absolutely be taking them up on that."

20th Century Fox

Comer had been rumoured to be joining the cast of Death on the Nile, but Branagh himself has now seemingly made it official.

Death on the Nile sees Poirot on holiday in Egypt. During a luxurious cruise on the River Nile, Linnet Doyle, a wealthy heiress, is suddenly murdered following a falling-out with her friend Jacqueline de Bellefort after marrying her former fiancé, Simon Doyle.

Death on the Nile will be released in US cinemas on October 2, 2020.

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