This just in from Harper Collins...
Kenneth Branagh, the director and star of the forthcoming motion picture adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, has recorded a new audiobook version of the Queen of Mystery’s bestseller for HarperCollins. The recording deal with Branagh was agreed by UK Senior Audio Editor Fionnuala Barrett. The new digital audio is on-sale October 31st, prior to the nationwide release of Murder on the Orient Express in the United States on November 10th.
Kenneth Branagh, who plays Poirot in the Twentieth Century Fox adaptation, recorded the new audiobook for HarperCollins UK, which was produced by multi award-winning radio producer and director Cherry Cookson. He is the latest actor to take on the legendary detective, following portrayals from actors including Charles Laughton, Albert Finney, Peter Ustinov and David Suchet.
HarperCollins Publisher of Estates, David Brawn, said: “Agatha Christie has been a jewel in HarperCollins crown for nearly half of our 200 years of publishing, so how wonderful that in our anniversary year comes one of the most exciting Christie adaptations in many years. Murder on the Orient Express is one of her most important and celebrated works, and of course it features probably her greatest creation, Hercule Poirot. Kenneth Branagh is inspired casting and it is wonderful that, as well as directing and starring in the film adaptation, he is narrating a new audiobook of the original text, which will mesmerise fans new and old.
Senior Vice President, Publisher of William Morrow Liate Stehlik, publisher of Agatha Christie in the US, said: “It has been our privilege and pleasure at William Morrow to publish the work of the most popular novelist of all time, and to see her stories win new readers across formats – print, digital, and audiobook. This new audio adaptation, performed by one of the world’s most acclaimed actors, is sure to thrill Agatha Christie’s vast and expanding readership around the globe.”
Agatha Christie Limited:
Agatha Christie Limited (ACL) has been managing the literary and media rights to Agatha Christie's works around the world since 1955, working with the best talents in film, television, publishing, stage and on digital platforms to ensure that Christie’s work continues to reach new audiences in innovative ways and to the highest standard. The company is managed by Christie’s great grandson James Prichard.
November 2017 will see the release of 20th Century Fox’s feature film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s acclaimed mystery, Murder on the Orient Express. The film will be directed by five-time Academy Award nominee Kenneth Branagh, who will also star as Poirot. Branagh helms an all-star cast that includes Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Penelope Cruz, Olivia Colman, Willem Dafoe, Daisy Ridley, Tom Bateman, Derek Jacobi, Josh Gad, Leslie Odom Jr, Sergei Polunin and Lucy Boynton.
ACL’s recent television projects include the critically-acclaimed BBC One adaptations of And Then There Were None (Aidan Turner, Charles Dance, Sam Neill) and The Witness for the Prosecution (Toby Jones, Andrea Riseborough, Kim Cattrall), both produced by Agatha Christie Ltd alongside Mammoth Screen, with screenplays from Sarah Phelps (Great Expectations, The Casual Vacancy). The latest adaptation, Ordeal By Innocence, is currently in production.
Globally, ACL works closely with leading screen production companies to deliver territory-specific adaptations. Notable productions include the popular French series Les Petits Meurtres d’Agatha Christie produced by Escazal, and Japanese adaptations of Murder on the Orient Express from Fuji TV (winner of the Tokyo Grand Prix drama award) and the forthcoming And Then There Were None from TV Asahi. Further projects are in development in Europe, the US, Asia and Latin America.
In 2016 literary projects included the global publication of the new Hercule Poirot novel Closed Casket, the second continuation novel from bestselling crime writer Sophie Hannah, published in more than 30 languages and distributed in over 100 territories. Sophie will shortly begin work on two more Poirot novels for publication in 2018 and 2020.
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