Is it the bloke with the suspiciously bloody implement in his hand? Or maybe the arsenic-caked lady with the vulpine look and the large jug of poison? These are some of the questions the cast of Agatha Christie adaptation Crooked House may be asking themselves as the film gets underway. Among their number are Max Irons, Stefanie Martini, Glenn Close, Christina Hendricks, Gillian Anderson and Terence Stamp, all freshly announced for the murder-mystery.
Christie’s book is set in 1947, with the war over but the killing not quite over. Described by the author herself as one of her two favourite novels, Crooked House finds narrator Charles Hayward (Irons) engaged to the fetching Sophia de Haviland (Martini). But before they can head down the aisle, someone has to solve the murder of her grandfather, who has been poisoned. Stamp will be doing the detective work as Chief Inspector Taverner.
Once earmarked for Neil LaBute, this one has Gilles Paquet-Brenner behind the camera. The Frenchman, who directed Kristin Scott Thomas in Parisian psychodrama Sarah’s Key, will be looking to manoeuvre all these moving parts into a tense crime yarn.
“Now is clearly the time to bring Agatha Christie back to the big screen,” says producer James Spring, "and I am delighted that we have such an exciting director and perfect combination of cast.”
Agatha Christie’s Crooked House will be shooting on location in the UK. It's one of several Christie adaptations making their way to screens of various sizes: Kenneth Branagh is currently preparing a new version of Murder On The Orient Express, while the BBC recently announced plans for seven new TV adaptations from the books.