Amazon and the BBC have today announced the next miniseries adaptation of the work by Agatha Christie - The ABC Murders with John Malkovich playing Hercule Poirot. The adaptation will be told in three parts and likely debut in 2019.
Set in the 1930s when the nation is dangerously divided with suspicion and hatred on the rise, Poirot faces a serial killer known only as A.B.C. First the killer strikes in Andover, then Bexhill. As the murder count rises, the only clue is the copy of The ABC Railway Guide at each crime scene. Poirot's investigations are thwarted at every turn by an enemy determined to outsmart him. If Poirot is to match his nemesis then everything about him will be called into question; his authority, his integrity, his past, his identity.
In addition to Malkovich, the series will also star Rupert Grint, Andrew Buchan, Eamon Farren, Tara Fitzgerald, Bronwyn James and Freya Mavor.
Sarah Phelps is writing the adaptation, which will be directed by Alex Gabassi. They will executive produce with Damien Timmer, Helen Ziegler, James Prichard, Basi Akpabio and Elizabeth Kilgarriff. Endeavor Content, Mammoth Screen and Agatha Christie Limited will produce.
This is the second miniseries in a seven-series deal between Amazon and the BBC to adapt the works of Agatha Christie. The first is Ordeal By Innocence which will debut later this year. That series was also forced to undergo reshoots after the production chose to remove Ed Westwick following allegations of sexual assault.
"Set in the seething, suspicious early 1930s, The ABC Murders is a brutal story of violence and lies, the long shadow of the past and the slaughter to come," said Phelps. "At its centre, one of the most familiar, famous characters in crime fiction. We may all think we know Poirot but do we really know Hercule?"
