“A Haunting in Venice” is based on an Agatha Christie mystery novel, but the theatrical film adaptation was marketed as a horror film, ignoring its best-selling author pedigree.
What gives?
It seems Walt Disney Studios decided that moviegoers are not moved by literary acclaim, but horror sells at the boxoffice. Christie, who died in 1976, did not get noticeably mentioned in the final marketing blitz of “A Haunting in Venice” commercials, which instead pumped up horror and star-power. The “Haunting in Venice” marketing also ignores the author’s celebrated creation, the character of Hercule Poirot who is a private detective.
Usually, foundation source material such as authors, best-selling book titles, Broadway stage plays and the like get prominently cited in marketing of movie adaptations. Though the late Agatha Christie is one of the world’s best-selling detective novelists, she’s not a contemporary of today’s youth audience that dominates cinema.
“I love spooky stories,” wrote Leah Schnelbach in a “Haunting in Venice” analysis posted on AdbanCommercials. “I love haunted houses, I love horror movies set in Venice, and apparently I love these weird, inexplicable movies.”
Recall that scare flicks “Scream IV,” “M3GAN” and “The Black Phone” were recent boxoffice hits.
The emphasis on horror messaging for the movie probably helped “A Haunting in Venice” boxoffice somewhat, but fell short of delivering a cinema hit. The PG-13-rated film generated a so-so $14.3 million in domestic boxoffice in its premiere weekend Sept. 15-17. It ranked second place, a whisker behind the second week of horror flick “The Nun II” at $14.5 million for Warner Bros. Pictures. Walt Disney Studios distributes the 20th Century Studio Films release of “Haunting in Venice.” Domestic is the U.S. and Canada.
Tina Fey emotes horror in the “A Haunting in Venice” trailer.
Topping a domestic weekend with boxoffice a little above $14 million is not impressive at first glance, but the Hollywood actors and writers strikes undercut marketing because film talent won’t do publicity. And, September is a weak month coming after the summer peaks. “Overall, it’s fair to say that the SAG-AFTRA [labor union] strike, and actors’ refusal to promote struck work, is taking its toll on the boxoffice,” writes Anthony D’Alessandro in Deadline.com.
“Haunting in Venice” got generally good critic reviews and was liked by moviegoers, though not by Rolling Stone magazine, which was not impressed by the Christie association: “’A Haunting in Venice’ makes good use of its locale, with tons of tourist-baiting shots of the city,” writes David Fear. “It just doesn’t know what to do with the tried-and-true formula it’s got, or how to incorporate the tweaks to that formula in a way that jolts things into life.”
The cast is solid with Kenneth Branaugh starring in his third recent Christie movie adaptation. “Haunting in Venice” is based on Christie’s 1969 novel “Hallowe’en Party.” Tina Fey and Michelle Yeoh co-star. Some critics gripe that the cast was not as good as in the two predecessor movies, though Yeoh is a recent Oscar winner.
As for the two earlier Branaugh films, the $14.3 million opening for “Haunting in Venice” surpasses the $12.8 million for “Death on the Nile” in 2022. But “Nile” was handicapped as the pandemic was still holding back audiences and hurt by an off-screen scandal surrounding co-star Armie Hammer. Finally, “Murder on the Orient Express” launched with $28.6 million in 2017, becoming a sleeper hit.
Co-stars of these two earlier Christie film adaptations include Johnny Depp, Daisy Ridley, Judi Dench, Michelle Pfeiffer, Willem Dafoe, Gal Gadot and Annette Bening.
“Haunting in Venice” reportedly cost $60 million to produce, which puts it somewhat below the average for a major-studio film, but far above low-budget. It’s a period movie set in the late 1940s about a supernatural séance that goes bad.
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