Why Haunting In Venice Changes Location From Agatha Christie’s Book Explained By Producer
The executive producer of A Haunting in Venice explains why the film changed locations from Agatha Christie’s original book. The latest installment in Kenneth Branagh’s Hercule Poirot series sees him head to Venice to investigate a supernatural murder mystery after a séance goes wrong. The film is a loose adaptation of Agatha Christie’s The Halloween Party and shifts the suspense from London to Venice while retaining the main characters and plot points from the book. In an interview with The Direct, James Pritchard, executive producer and CEO of the Agatha Christie Estate, explains why A Haunting In Venice changed the location of Christie’s book. While explaining some of the significant changes between the book and the film, Pritchard also explained that the atmospheric element of Venice helped Branagh and screenwriter Michael Green utilize some of the horror elements of the original book quite well. . Check out what he had to say about it below: There are some significant changes in the story. And yes, one of the clues is in the title. With “Murder on the Orient Express” and “Death on the Nile,” we did two very, pretty faithful adaptations of two pretty famous and pretty big books. And Michael Green, the writer, and Kenneth Branagh, obviously, the director and [Hercule Poirot] felt that maybe we should surprise the audience with this and try something a little different.
And the main difference they were looking for was tonal. They wanted to play a little bit with the horror genre, and they felt a ‘Hallowe’en Party’ was a great launchpad into that. They wanted to set it in Venice. That was quite an early change that they came up with. There were two potential reasons for that. One of which is, you know, if you’re going to make a Hollywood movie, you want a great backdrop, and Venice is well, not many backdrops come better than Venice. So there was the kind of cinematic elements of it. But there’s also an atmospheric element to Venice. This film plays with the supernatural–has the potential for the supernatural at its heart, and Venice has an air of mystery and air of mystique that plays into it. But, you know, the whole point of this movie is to play with genre and all of those kinds of things. And [Kenneth Branagh] and Michael [Green] wanted to play with the plot. And what we have ended up with is a great murder mystery and a great experience. So, hopefully, people will enjoy it for what it is.
A Haunting In Venice’s Massive Risks Paid Off
Having established a good structure and style with his adaptations of 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express and 2022’s Death on the Nile, Branagh completely reinvented the Poirot series with A Haunting in Venice. Instead of being a traditional murder mystery like his previous two films, A Haunting in Venice takes inspiration from supernatural horror films and draws on many of them when building up to his final case. Poirot. When the trailer was released, some viewers were surprised that Branagh took such a creative risk, but the decision seems to have paid off. The change of location accentuates the sinister aesthetic of Poirot’s case and creates anticipation for the killer’s reveal at the end of A Haunting in Venice.
The film has received the best reviews of the series, currently holding a 78% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, compared to 61% for Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. It seems that bringing Branagh’s Poirot into a completely new setting that he’s never been in before has worked in the series’ favor. The film is also expected to achieve the series’ best opening weekend at the box office, with early projections placing it slightly higher than the opening weekend of Death on the Nile. If a sequel is ordered, Branagh has plenty of Hercule Poirot books to adapt for the screen, opening up the possibility of adding the original version to Christie’s story. A Haunting in Venice demonstrated this ability with a simple change of location, leading to positive reception of the film’s setting, mystery, and storytelling.