It has now been confirmed that the mystery drama, Murder on the Orient Express, which is getting released this Friday in India, is to have a sequel. Directed by Kenneth Branagh, Murder on the Orient Express, which is based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Agatha Christie, also stars the filmmaker in the lead, alongside an ensemble cast, including Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe and Judi Dench.

After opening to positive reviews in the western markets, the film's sequel has been given the green signal by the makers Twentieth Century Fox. The sequel will be an adaptation of Death on the Nile, the 1937 novel, also written by Agatha Christie. While the Orient Express is about a murder which happens in a luxury long-distance passenger train, the sequel will see its main character, Hercule Poirot enjoying some time off from his crime-solving routine, only to be pulled back into duty after a mysterious murder aboard a riverboat.

Sources state that Branagh is expected to return as both leading actor and director, while Michael Green will return to pen the sequel.