A supernatural-thriller inspired by Agatha Christie’s novel Hallowe’en Party, Oscar® winning filmmaker Kenneth Branagh (“Belfast”) directs A Haunting in Venice, which brings the iconic character Hercule Poirot out on the high seas for a terrifying horror adventure.

This is the first horror movie from Branagh since Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein back in 1994, grafting a spooky skin onto his critically acclaimed tales of Hercule Poirot. You know horror is hot when Oscar winning filmmakers are making horror movies, and it’s always exciting to see non-horror franchises dipping their toes into the genre. Watch the trailer below.

Featuring a screenplay by Oscar nominee Michael Green (“Logan”), A Haunting in Venice was filmed at Pinewood Studios outside London and on location in Venice.

A brilliant acting ensemble portraying a cast of unforgettable characters will be featured, including Kenneth Branagh, Kyle Allen (“Rosaline”), Camille Cottin (“Call My Agent”), Jamie Dornan (“Belfast”), Tina Fey (“30 Rock”), Jude Hill (“Belfast”), Ali Khan (“6 Underground”), Emma Laird (“Mayor of Kingstown”), Kelly Reilly (“Yellowstone”), Riccardo Scamarico (“Caravaggio’s Shadow”), and Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”).

A Haunting in Venice will open in theaters nationwide September 15, 2023.

Set in eerie, post-World War II Venice on All Hallows’ Eve, A Haunting in Venice is a terrifying mystery featuring the return of the celebrated sleuth, Hercule Poirot. Now retired and living in self-imposed exile in the world’s most glamorous city, Poirot reluctantly attends a séance at a decaying, haunted palazzo. When one of the guests is murdered, the detective is thrust into a sinister world of shadows and secrets.

Hildur Guđnadóttir, the acclaimed composer from Iceland who won an Oscar, Golden Globe®, GRAMMY®, and BAFTA for Joker and an Emmy® and GRAMMY for “Chernobyl,”  and who most recently scored TÁR and Women Talking, will compose the score.

Kenneth Branagh says, “This is a fantastic development of the character Hercule Poirot, as well as the Agatha Christie franchise. Based on a complex, little known tale of mystery set at Halloween in a pictorially ravishing city, it is an amazing opportunity for us, as filmmakers, and we are relishing the chance to deliver something truly spine-chilling for our loyal movie audiences.”

Steve Asbell, president 20th Century Studios, says, “We are enormously privileged to continue our long collaboration with the incomparable Sir Kenneth Branagh and couldn’t be more excited by the bold new creative direction Ken, Michael, and the rest of the filmmaking team have taken with this latest film. We also remain grateful to James Prichard and the rest of our friends at Agatha Christie, Ltd., for their partnership and for once again entrusting us with, as Poirot modestly calls himself, ‘probably the greatest detective in the world.’”

A Haunting in Venice, the studios’ third film based on a novel by Christie, reunites the team of filmmakers behind 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express and 2022’s Death on the Nile and includes screenwriter Michael Green, producer Judy Hofflund, and executive producers Louise Killin and James Prichard, along with filmmakers Ridley Scott, Simon Kinberg, and Mark Gordon. 

A scene from 20th Century Studios’ A HAUNTING IN VENICE. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

(L-R): Riccardo Scamarcio as Vitale Portfoglio, Camille Cottin as Olga Seminoff, Jude Hill as Leopold Ferrier, Tina Fey as Ariadne Oliver, Kelly Reilly as Rowena Drake, Emma Laird as Desdemona Holland, Ali Khan as Nicholas Holland, and Kyle Allen as Maxime Gerard in 20th Century Studios’ A HAUNTING IN VENICE. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Michelle Yeoh as Joyce Reynolds in 20th Century Studios’ A HAUNTING IN VENICE. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

A scene from 20th Century Studios’ A HAUNTING IN VENICE. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot in 20th Century Studios’ A HAUNTING IN VENICE. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.