A Haunting in Venice | September 15, 2023 | Branagh's moustache is back at it again!

[Chrysaor]

3 hours ago, TheDude391 said:

Never seen or had an interest in the first two Poirot films but I'm going to this tomorrow. Everything I've heard and seen sounds really intriguing.

If you end up being a fan, I'd recommend checking out the 70's version of Murder on the Orient Express, still the very best Hercule Poirot film in my opinion and has an absolutely stacked cast.

[Eric Loves Rey]

3 hours ago, TheDude391 said:

Never seen or had an interest in the first two Poirot films but I'm going to this tomorrow. Everything I've heard and seen sounds really intriguing.

 

2 hours ago, RichWS said:

 

Going tomorrow myself. I haven't seen Murder and really didn't like Nile, so I'm taking a shot based on WOM. 

Lol I’m going tomorrow too. If it’s not too late, you can fly over to PA and we can enjoy ourselves a 12:10 showing.

[Eric Loves Rey]

20 hours ago, Eric Poirot said:

 

Lol I’m going tomorrow too. If it’s not too late, you can fly over to PA and we can enjoy ourselves a 12:10 showing.

Not bad! Don't feel like Branagh understand how to actually give these mysteries suspense, but the horror and dread-tinged atmosphere is legimitately effective, there's some gorgeous camerawork in here, and this is the first of these where I feel all the suspects are memorable (granted it helps the cast is a lot smaller). It's also nice to have one of these movies without terrible CGI and ugly digital backdrops behind them. The prior two look so artificial and ugly, which only made the movies feel even more lifeless and uninteresting.

[Morieris]

Unless there's some interesting angle to it (One of my favorite shows is a parody of cop shows but in a middle school), I will not seek out a mystery to watch, so being unfamiliar with the source material,   I was here for the atmosphere and characters (I think someone here said "They act like people are going to see this just for Michelle Yeoh", well, I did) more than the mystery, but I would watch it again on TV.

 

Also the ex-fiance sounded so much like Chris Pine to me, I thought he had, for some reason, dubbed over this guy.

Edited September 19, 2023 by Morieris

[Chrysaor]

So presuming we get another one of these, which book or story would you hope they tackle next?

 

If they keep filming one every three years, then we could get two more before Branagh hits 70. In which case, I'd like to see them tackle the heavy hitters: Roger Ackroyd and ABC Murders then, if those are successful, let a 70-ish Branagh wrap up with Curtain and  then they can reboot/do a prequel series beginning with The Mysterious Affair at Styles.

[dudalb]

7 minutes ago, Chrysaor said:

So presuming we get another one of these, which book or story would you hope they tackle next?

 

If they keep filming one every three years, then we could get two more before Branagh hits 70. In which case, I'd like to see them tackle the heavy hitters: Roger Ackroyd and ABC Murders then, if those are successful, let a 70-ish Branagh wrap up with Curtain and  then they can reboot/do a prequel series beginning with The Mysterious Affair at Styles.

ABC Murders yes, Ackroyd no. The whole plot twist on which Ackroyd turns would be very , very difficult to pull off on film. BBC tried and failed. 

[TheDude391]

Honestly...I kinda loved this? Visually it's one of the best of the year (wish it was all black and white though) and all the reviews mentioning Welles I now get 100%. I had gripes with some of the narrative plotting but the atmosphere was so haunting and affecting that I let it slide. Surprisingly very somber.

[dudalb]

Maybe Branagh, if he wants to keep the classic mysteries going, could take a crack at Lord Peter Wimsey?

[Chrysaor]

5 hours ago, dudalb said:

Maybe Branagh, if he wants to keep the classic mysteries going, could take a crack at Lord Peter Wimsey?

The only Wimsey I'm familiar with is Whose Body? But I think eventually introducing crossover characters like that would be a great way to keep vitality in the series. Years ago, when we realized some Holmes material was in the public domain, my brother and I came up with the idea to do a story set across two time periods where Holmes and Poirot are both working to solve the same case. It was kind of convoluted, but Holmes solves his portion and helps lay the groundwork for another great detective (Poirot) to solve it when a recurrence of the crime happens decades later. Each chapter would switch between detectives.

Edited September 21, 2023 by Chrysaor

[lorddemaxus]

Have seen none of his Shakespeare adaptations (the only films of his I can see liking more than this), but I would call this Branagh's best film Ive seen yet. Imo, the mystery itself is probably the most boring out of all 3 films, but the gothic horror touch is just exquisite. And formally, it's easily the best thing he's made this side of 2000.

[TheDude391]

19 hours ago, lorddemaxus said:

Have seen none of his Shakespeare adaptations (the only films of his I can see liking more than this), but I would call this Branagh's best film Ive seen yet. Imo, the mystery itself is probably the most boring out of all 3 films, but the gothic horror touch is just exquisite. And formally, it's easily the best thing he's made this side of 2000.

I'd kill to see Branagh make an old dark house type horror movie. 

[Krissykins]

I thought this was a step up from the previous two films, which wasn’t hard IMO. 
 

A mostly great cast and it looked lovely. None of the faux horror/atmosphere or attempted creepiness worked for me, at all.  Probably because we assume he’ll find a logical reason. 
 

MVP: Tina Fey.

 

3/5

[4815162342]

On 9/21/2023 at 3:15 AM, lorddemaxus said:

Have seen none of his Shakespeare adaptations (the only films of his I can see liking more than this)

 

His more recent ones are hit-or-miss from what I understand, but the trifecta of Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, and Hamlet are great

[Chrysaor]

20 hours ago, Krissykins said:

I thought this was a step up from the previous two films, which wasn’t hard IMO. 
 

A mostly great cast and it looked lovely. None of the faux horror/atmosphere or attempted creepiness worked for me, at all.  Probably because we assume he’ll find a logical reason. 
 

MVP: Tina Fey.

 

3/5

 

I thought there were several pretty solid performances in the film, but yes, Tina Fey is absolutely the MVP.

14 hours ago, 4815162342 said:

 

His more recent ones are hit-or-miss from what I understand, but the trifecta of Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, and Hamlet are great

 

His 21st century directing filmography has been surprisingly miss (Love's Labors Lost, Sleuth, Shadow Recruit, Artemis Fowl, and depending on your mileage, MotOE, DotN, Thor 1 & Belfast), but his acting filmography has had some real bright spots during that same time. For instance, I thought that Tenet was a letdown overall, but Branagh as the main villain was hands-down the best thing about it, and his performance was so uncharacteristic that it literally took me over half the film to recognize it was him, despite him not being in heavy make-up or prosthetics or anything.

Edited September 24, 2023 by Chrysaor

[ddddeeee]

Fey was comfortably the weak link in the excellent cast. I thought she would kill the role, but her more dramatic moments fell flat.

 

Fun fact: Fey was almost cast in Death on the Nile before Disney ordered another lot of reshoots for Artemis Fowl.

Edited September 24, 2023 by ddddeeee

[Claire of Themyscira]

2 hours ago, ddddeeee said:

Fey was comfortably the weak link in the excellent cast. I thought she would kill the role, but her more dramatic moments fell flat.

 

Fun fact: Fey was almost cast in Death on the Nile before Disney ordered another lot of reshoots for Artemis Fowl.

Drag her a little, boo!

[Chrysaor]

Deadline is estimating AHiV to have had a $6.3 MM 2nd weekend. This puts it at ~$25,353,000 domestically. It's currently at ~$46,200,000 internationally. 

 

It's worth noting that Deadline initially reported it at $5.6MM for the weekend before increasing to $5.8, $6.0, and $6.3 respectively. This would seem to indicate that walk-ups are pretty good, and it won't be too surprising if it comes in a little higher once actuals are released (my best guess is $6.5).

 

DoTN earned another $20,339,431 after it's 2nd weekend (or 3.10 x's it's 2nd weekend). If we assume that AHiV has a similar lifespan then that'll put it's domestic final at ~$44.9 (or ~$50.7 if the 2nd weekend ends up being $6.5).

 

Internationally, DoTN's total was 1.833 x's it's total after its 2nd weekend. If we apply that to AHiV (again, obviously working with current estimates rather than actuals) then that takes us to a $84,684,000 total.

 

Combining these two gives us a $130-135 WW total.

 

I feel like that'd be pretty encouraging for Disney. DotN finalized at $137.3 and once VoD and streaming was factored in it was considered profitable enough to warrant a sequel. With AHiV costing $40 MM less a similar WW gross would likely more than justify a fourth go around. It also shows Disney that, while nowhere near the gross of the first film, the franchise appears to be pretty consistent financially and as long as they keep the budgets in check, the franchise could be a reliable moneymaker that also helps expand the appeal of Disney+ to older audiences.

 

[TheDude391]

I think the marketing softened the gross a bit. Undersold the Poirot connection and oversold the horror elements. Deterred older audiences and rug pulled younger ones.

[Chrysaor]

53 minutes ago, TheDude391 said:

I think the marketing softened the gross a bit. Undersold the Poirot connection and oversold the horror elements. Deterred older audiences and rug pulled younger ones.

Absolutely agree on all accounts. Hopefully Disney has the sense to see this too.

[ThePrinceIsOnFire]

22 hours ago, Chrysaor said:

Deadline is estimating AHiV to have had a $6.3 MM 2nd weekend. This puts it at ~$25,353,000 domestically. It's currently at ~$46,200,000 internationally. 

 

It's worth noting that Deadline initially reported it at $5.6MM for the weekend before increasing to $5.8, $6.0, and $6.3 respectively. This would seem to indicate that walk-ups are pretty good, and it won't be too surprising if it comes in a little higher once actuals are released (my best guess is $6.5).

 

DoTN earned another $20,339,431 after it's 2nd weekend (or 3.10 x's it's 2nd weekend). If we assume that AHiV has a similar lifespan then that'll put it's domestic final at ~$44.9 (or ~$50.7 if the 2nd weekend ends up being $6.5).

 

Internationally, DoTN's total was 1.833 x's it's total after its 2nd weekend. If we apply that to AHiV (again, obviously working with current estimates rather than actuals) then that takes us to a $84,684,000 total.

 

Combining these two gives us a $130-135 WW total.

 

I feel like that'd be pretty encouraging for Disney. DotN finalized at $137.3 and once VoD and streaming was factored in it was considered profitable enough to warrant a sequel. With AHiV costing $40 MM less a similar WW gross would likely more than justify a fourth go around. It also shows Disney that, while nowhere near the gross of the first film, the franchise appears to be pretty consistent financially and as long as they keep the budgets in check, the franchise could be a reliable moneymaker that also helps expand the appeal of Disney+ to older audiences.

 

 

To be fair, Death on the Nile's international release was more fragmented, it opened in Spain and China one week later and in Japan 2 weeks later, so it's hard to compare when AHIV has been released in every major market the same week. 

IMHO it's more likely to end in the 100-120 M WW range, which would be decent for a mid-budget movie, but still not good enough to cover the expenses. 

As for a sequel, can they cut the budget down to 20 - 30 M and still have a star-studded cast and a visually appealing movie? Only Wes Anderson manages to do that currently, but he has stars working for him for free...