‘Death on the Nile’ highlights Friday’s openings

Above : Armie Hammer and Gal Gadot star in “Death on the Nile,” which opens wide on Friday. (Photo/20th Century Studios)

She may have died some 46 years ago, but Agatha Christie still has books in print. Moreover, they’re still being adapted into movies.

Following his 2017 adaptation of Christie’s 1934 “Death on the Orient Express,” Kenneth Branagh is back as both director and star of “Death on the Nile,” his adaptation of Christie’s 1937 mystery. In both films, Branagh stars as the French detective Hercule Poirot .

“Death on the Nile,” which opens wide on Friday, is scheduled to be joined by at least two other mainstream films: “Marry Me” and “Blacklight.”

“Death on the Nile” : A young heiress is murdered on a Nile river boat, and Poirot takes over the investigation. Also starring Gal Gadot, Russell Brand and Annette Bening.

Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly described the film as “A sort of sumptuous dinner-theater redux studded with stray bits of caricature, camp, and many CG pyramids.”

Moira MacDonald of the Seattle Times added, “It’s no great hardship to watch ‘Death on the Nile’; it looks pretty, feels pleasantly old-school and is over within shouting distance of the two-hour mark.”

USA Today critic Brian Truitt is a bit more restrained: “The action happens on a steam ship rather than a train this time, though still finds itself veering off the rails as it drags out the setup and rushes the reveals.”

Marry Me” : Jennifer Lopez stars as a popular singer who, learning that on the eve of her wedding to her singing partner that he’s cheated on her, decides to marry the first stranger she sees – a math-teaching everyman played by Owen Wilson. Can this relationship endure?

Well, since no critics have yet chimed in, we’ll have to wait to find out. (But I’m pretty sure you can guess.)

“Blacklight ” : Continuing his run as an action star, Liam Neeson stars as a special U.S. operative who runs afoul of his boss, an FBI official played by Aidan Quinn, and discovers that he’s put his daughter and granddaughter in jeopardy. Guess what happens?

Again, since no critic have released any advance reviews, your guess is as good as anyone’s

I’ll update as the week progresses.