Today for the first time on TV: A star-studded crime blockbuster with a magnificent setting and Gal Gadot as the murder victim!

Five years after the resounding success of his first film adaptation of Agatha Christie, ‘Murder on the Orient Express’, director and star Kenneth Branagh (‘Belfast’) announced the next film, starring the iconic private detective Hercule Poirot. ‘Death on the Nile’ hit screens worldwide in February 2022. Once again, Branagh managed to gather a great ensemble of top actors around him – especially “Wonder Woman” star Gal Gadot.

“Death on the Nile” celebrates its free TV premiere on SAT 1 today, October 29, 2023 at 8:15 PM. The channel will broadcast a repeat on November 4 at 10:35 PM. If both dates don’t suit you or you’d prefer to enjoy the work without commercial interruptions, you can watch the FSK 12 title anytime as part of your streaming subscription to Disney+*. The film is of course also available as (4K) Blu-ray, DVD or paid video-on-demand:

“Death on the Nile” wasn’t a huge box office hit, but it made enough money worldwide that the Branagh studio financed a third film in the series. The much scarier ‘A Haunting In Venice’ can currently be seen in local cinemas.

“Death on the Nile” on SAT.1: that’s the story

London’s high society is shocked: without warning, millionaire heiress Linnet Ridgeway (Gal Gadot) married Simon Doyle (Armie Hammer), who is known to have gone from financial crunch to the next slippery philanderer. But that is not enough. Because that’s how she cheated on her supposed best friend Jacqueline de Bellefort (Emma Mackey).

Unwilling to accept this double betrayal, she now follows the newlyweds wherever they go – even on their decadent honeymoon on the Nile. No longer feeling safe, Linnet asks private detective Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh), who is actually on holiday in Egypt, to keep an eye on her. But as soon as the luxury river steamer Linnet had booked for a big party left, her body was found in her cabin.

Jacqueline conveniently has a seemingly watertight alibi. But she is far from the only one with a motive, as Poirot discovers. His suspects include Linnet’s maid Louise (Rose Leslie), her trustee Andrew Katchadourian (Ali Fazal), her godmother Marie Van Schuyler (Jennifer Saunders), famed singer Salome Otterbourne (Sophie Okonedo) and her daughter Rosalie (Letitia Wright). as the painter Euphemia (Annette Bening)…

And that’s the real star of “Death on the Nile”

From Kenneth Branagh to Gal Gadot, from ‘Black Panther’ superhero Letitia Wright to Annette Bening, who just hit the screens with ‘Nyad’, from comedian Russell Brand (‘Catherine, Reluctant Lady’) to Indian crowd favorite Ali Fazal (“ Kandahar”) and from Emma Mackey of “Sex Education” to Rose Leslie (“Game Of Thrones”) – the list of prominent names involved here is enormous. And yet there is perhaps an even bigger star in Death on the Nile: the SS Karnak, the boat on which they all sail down the Nile.

Anyone who has seen the film may be surprised to read this: With the exception of a few second-unit shots without actors actually shot in Egypt, the film was shot in Surrey, England. In the Longcross Studios located there (“Doctor Strange 1+2”, “Mission: Impossible 7+8”), parts of the rock temple of Abu Simbel were recreated. There was also an impressive backdrop for the boat in the site’s huge parking lot. Everything that happens around the beautiful looking ship (and part of itself) has been added digitally. Oscar winner George Murphy (“Forrest Gump,” “Jurassic Park”) is responsible for the stunning special effects.

By the way, the design of the “Karnak” is the “Sudan“, based on a real steamboat that was commissioned in 1921 and still sails on the Nile. Agatha Christie is said to have once sailed on the “Sudan” herself and was inspired by this journey to write her world bestseller, which Branagh & Co. filmed here with some substantive adjustments.

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