Murder on the Orient Express: First look at all-star cast including Daisy Ridley, Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz

Kenneth Branagh is launching a new adaptation of Agatha Christie's classic 1934 novel, featuring Hercule Poirot

The Agatha Christie adaptation, with an all-star cast to boot, is a steady tradition in British television, but it's been a while since Hollywood's dipped its toe in the pool.

Until now, with Kenneth Branagh's Murder on the Orient Express gearing up for release, as the actor/director also steps into the shoes of Christie's most famous detective, Hercule Poirot.

His expertise in prestige drama has attracted a fair few big names along the way: Daisy Ridley stars as Mary Debenham, Judi Dench as Princess Natalia Dragomiroff, Penélope Cruz as Pilar Estravados, Josh Gad as Hector MacQueen, Willem Dafoe as Gerhard Hardman, and Johnny Depp as Edward Ratchett.

That's alongside Olivia Colman as Hildegarde Schmidt, Michelle Pfeiffer as Mrs. Caroline Hubbard, Leslie Odom Jr. as Dr. Arbuthnot, Tom Bateman as M. Bouc, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as Biniamino Marquez, Marwan Kenzari as Pierre Michel, Derek Jacobi as Masterman, Lucy Boynton as Countess Elena Andrenyi, and Sergei Polunin as Count Rudolph Andrenyi.

Beyond its exhausting cavalcade of characters, Christie's 1934 novel finds Poirot investigating a fatal stabbing aboard the famous luxury locomotive which ran between Istanbul and Paris, after it leaves its passengers trapped in a snowdrift with a murderer running amok.

Entertainment Weekly provided a first look at the cast, which you can check out below, alongside the magazine's jam-packed cover.

Murder on the Orient Express hits UK cinemas on 24 November.