"And Then There Were None" Challenge - Cast a big-budget screen version!

RolandoCastillo

The challenge is simple: You are in charge of casting a big-budget screen version of "And Then There Were None". Cast the ten guests on Indian Island. You also have the option on the four additional characters from the novel - Fred Naracott (the boatman), Isaac Morris (Mr. Owen's representative) and the two detectives from Scotland Yard who appear in the Epilogue: Assistant Commissioner Sir Thomas Legge and Inspector Maine. And finally, would your version end like the stage play ("He got married") or the novel ("He went and hanged himself")?

To get things started, here is my list:

Dr. Armstrong - Sir Anthony Hopkins

William Blore - Gerard Butler

Emily Brent - Helen Mirren (for me, this was the hardest to cast. But if anyone can play sweet one moment and intense the next, it's her!)

Vera Claythorne - Emma Watson (a bit young, yes, but she can definitely pull off that "schoolmistressy" look described in the novel)

Philip Lombard - Daniel Craig

General Macarthur - Sir Sean Connery

Anthony Marston - Alexander Skarsgard

Ethel Rogers - Tilda Swinton

Thomas Rogers - Benedict Cumberbatch

Judge Wargrave - Sir Ian McKellen

Fred Naracott - Harrison Ford (a bit part but if you've seen the new "Star Wars" movie you know he can play a grizzled boatman just fine)

Isaac Morris - Alan Cumming (need someone to play smarmy and slimy? Look no further)

A.C. Sir Thomas Legge - Jonny Rees (stage name: Greg Ellis, He definitely has that authoritative look)

Inspector Maine - Peter Windhofer  (also has that no-nonsense commanding look)

Finally, I would go with the novel's ending -- it would give audiences a jolt if they're used to the previous film versions (not counting the Russian version, of course)

Thanks for reading. So....what are your choices?

Griselda

I like this - it would work really well as a cast. Some tv adaptations have had fine cast for other AC novels: Murder at the Vicarage was very good. I glimpsed at The Daily Mail online content and found that the adaptation of And ThenThere Were None for Boxing Day on the BBC channel is going to have cocaine use, swearing and romance added in (which wasn't in the original novel) in order to, according to the Daily Mail, appeal to a younger audience. It is interesting what the producer has said about the novel. Worth googling this article. I thought the drama would get spiced up.

RolandoCastillo

It's kinda sad that things have to be added in order to 'spice up' the story. I personally think it's a masterpiece just the way it is.

Griselda

I wouldn't be surprised if a new film could get those big names you've thought of. Agatha Christie works are very popular with great actors, it seems. I guess I'll have to reserve judgement till I see the latest adaptation - but it does, sadly, often lose the whole point when the producer messes about with the original. If they start to put in sympathetic characters and modern justifications for the crimes - well, that will get away from Christie's whole outlook, and skew the balance of the whole drama. It is like when you paint a picture and start to put too much dark on - the whole thing goes off balance.

CT148

Are there plans for a big screen Hollywood adaptation of And Then There Were None or is purely make believe or conjecture?

CT148

A good cast. I would find room for Australia's two finest actors...Geoffrey Rush and Cate Blanchett. Perhaps as Anthony Marston and Emily Brent (or is Cate too young) Michael Cain as the judge?

CT148

Completely agree Griselda. Agatha Christie stories are timeless and should not be messed with for whatever reason. I guess the executors of the Agatha Christie estate would have given their permission to make these changes though. All I can say is thankfully this upcoming tv adaptation is not set in the present. God forbid when that happens. It will some day.

RolandoCastillo

Hello, CT148! No, this is purely conjecture. After reading that Kenneth Branagh was going to direct and star in "Murder on the Orient Express." I wanted to submit my dream cast for "And Then There Were None." Oh, I'm sure it will happen one day but  won't be anytime soon due to the recent BBC adaptation.

CT148

I agree Rolando. ATTWN is a masterpiece. You could say the jewel in the Christie crown. Call me CT. New to the site. Always been an Agatha Christie fan since I picked up one of her books at boarding school many years ago. I was immediately hooked. 

RolandoCastillo

I've read ATTWN countless times and every time I discover something new. I'm really liking the location of the new adaptation -- it's pretty much a manor house on a bare rock. And while the 1979 film version left a lot to be desired, the opening shot of the hotel in the middle of the desert (with its nearby ruins and the wind the only sound) gave a feeling of isolation that still haunts me today. 

CT148

I enjoyed the version  set in the desert. Or rather I liked the cast. Oliver Reed was one guest from memory. Also enjoyed the version set in Africa. One of my fav. Brit actors, Donald Pleasence was in that. I watched a Russian adaptation the other day. Despite having to read subtitles I found myself being drawn into it. I did feel the director gave away the murderer though, when Judge Walgrave smugly laughed at the Ten Little Indian nursery rhyme poster shortly after the third murder.

Tommy_A_Jones

Judge Wargrave Stephen Berkhoff

Vera Claythorne Danielle Denby-Ashe

Dr Armstrong Peter Egan

Emily Brent Gwen Taylor

General MacArthur Sam West

Blore Jack Ellis

Marston Kris Marshall

Lombard Toby Stephens

Rogers Ian Lavender

Mrs Rodgers Lil Roughley

Fred Narracott Tim Wylton

Sir Thomas Legge Mark Gattis

Inspector Maine David Suchet

The Voice on The Recording Tom Baker.

I would have SPOILER ALERT The Rogers Alledged Victim played by Gemma Jones.