The Big Picture
- A Haunting in Venice concludes its box office run as the lowest-grossing film in the trilogy, falling significantly short of its predecessors' earnings.
- The film, based on a less-popular source novel, features a less star-studded cast and a smaller budget compared to the previous movies in the series.
- Despite receiving better reviews, the dwindling interest and underwhelming commercial performance suggest that a fourth installment in Kenneth Branagh's Agatha Christie adaptations is unlikely.
Director-star Kenneth Branagh’s A Haunting in Venice is going to conclude its global box office run as the lowest-grossing entry of the trilogy, as it prepares to land on PVOD platforms in the U.S. on October 31. The film finished at the number 10 spot on the domestic box office chart this weekend — its seventh — as it added under $500,000 to its tally. With less than $110 million worldwide, the film will fall short of its immediate predecessor by a significant margin.
A Haunting in Venice has grossed a disappointing $41 million in its domestic run, and another $66 million from overseas territories, for a global box office haul of $108 million. The movie has virtually no chance of matching Death on the Nile’s $45 million domestic and $137 million global hauls from last year, and has currently made roughly a third of the $350 million that Murder on the Orient Express generated worldwide in 2017. The first film was a sleeper hit, grossing more than $100 million in North America after a $28 million opening weekend.
Unlike the first two movies in Branagh’s trilogy of murder mystery adaptations of Agatha Christie’s novels, A Haunting in Venice was based on a relatively less-popular source novel, and featured a noticeably less starry cast. Both Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile were sold as old-fashioned big screen spectacles featuring glamorous movie stars such as Gal Gadot, Michelle Pfeiffer and Penélope Cruz, among many others. The second film, in particular, was especially expensive, setting 20th Century Studios back by around $100 million in production costs alone.
Kenneth Branagh's Agatha Christie Adaptations | Global Box Office |
|---|---|
Murder on the Orient Express (2017) | $351 million |
Death on the Nile (2022) | $137 million |
A Haunting in Venice (2023) | $108 million |
Will A Haunting in Venice Mark the End of Kenneth Branagh's Series?
But the scale was restricted time around, bringing the budget down to a reported $60 million, and pivoting away from the expansive scope of the first two films, which were shot on large-format film. Shot digitally, A Haunting in Venice is more of a horror-thriller that takes place in a single location, and takes the famed fictional Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (played by Branagh) in interesting new directions.
The movie received better reviews than either of its predecessors, at least according to the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. It holds a “fresh” 75% score on the website, as compared to the 61% scores that both Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile posted. But interest in the series is clearly dwindling, both domestically and across the world. It came as a bit of a surprise when 20th Century Studios announced that it was proceeding with a third film after Death on the Nile underwhelmed commercially, and it’ll be even more surprising if a fourth installment is announced following the performance of A Haunting in Venice. The movie also stars Kyle Allen, Camille Cottin, Jamie Dornan, Tina Fey, Jude Hill, Ali Khan, Emma Laird, Kelly Reilly, Riccardo Scamarcio, and Michelle Yeoh. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
A Haunting in Venice
PG-13DramaCrimeHorrorIn post-World War II Venice, Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branath), now retired and living in his own exile, reluctantly attends a seance. But when one of the guests is murdered, it is up to the former detective to once again uncover the killer.Branagh returns to star in and helm the third installment of his series of murder mystery movies based on the novels of Agatha Christie. Previous installments include Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile, which were both based on more popular source novels.
- Release Date
- September 15, 2023
- Director
- Kenneth Branagh
- Cast
- Kelly Reilly , Michelle Yeoh , Jamie Dornan , Kenneth Branagh
- Runtime
- 103 minutes
