Murder on the Orient Express is a 2017 mystery film co-produced and directed by Kenneth Branagh from a screenplay by Michael Green, based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Agatha Christie. It is the first installment of the Hercule Poirot film series. The film stars an ensemble cast with Branagh as Hercule Poirot, alongside Tom Bateman, Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Josh Gad, Derek Jacobi, Leslie Odom Jr, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Daisy Ridley. The plot follows Poirot, a world-renowned Belgian detective, as he investigates a murder on the luxury Orient Express train service in the 1930s.