Death on the Nile is a 1978 British mystery film based on Agatha Christie's 1937 novel of the same name, directed by John Guillermin and adapted by Anthony Shaffer.^[4] The film features the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, played by Peter Ustinov for the first time, plus an all-star supporting cast that includes Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury, Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, Jane Birkin, David Niven, George Kennedy, and Jack Warden. The film is a standalone sequel to the 1974 film Murder on the Orient Express.

It takes place in Egypt in 1937, mostly on a period paddle steamer on the Nile. Various famous Ancient Egyptian sights are featured in the film, such as the Great Pyramids, the Sphinx, and temples at Abu Simbel and Karnak.

Death on the Nile won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design at the 51st Academy Awards.

Wealthy heiress Linnet Ridgeway agrees to hire her friend Jacqueline "Jackie" de Bellefort's unemployed fiancé, Simon Doyle, as her estate manager. Soon after, Linnet and Simon marry following a whirlwind courtship. While honeymooning in Egypt, they are surprised at the Pyramids by the jilted Jackie, who is stalking them. To evade her, the Doyles pretend to catch a train to Alexandria before backtracking to board a Nile paddle steamer, the S.S. Karnak. Also in Egypt is detective Hercule Poirot, who gradually learns about the situation.

During an on-shore excursion to the Temple of Karnak, a large stone is pushed off a pillar, narrowly missing the Doyles. The couple is shocked when Jackie joins the cruise, having ignored detective Hercule Poirot's advice to stay away. Jackie also reveals that she carries a small .22 caliber pistol and is a crack shot. That evening, Jackie confronts Simon in a drunken rage and shoots him in the leg, then is escorted away. The next morning, Linnet is found dead from a gunshot wound to the head. The letter "J" written in blood on the wall above her bed implicates Jackie, but she has a solid alibi, as Miss Bowers sedated her with morphia and watched her all night.

Poirot and his friend, Colonel Race, investigate. They discover that numerous passengers had motives to kill Linnet: Louise Bourget, Linnet's maid, was bitter that her mistress refused a promised dowry; Andrew Pennington, Linnet's American trustee, was embezzling from her; Mrs. van Schuyler, an elderly American socialite and a kleptomaniac, wanted Linnet's pearl necklace; van Schuyler's nurse, Miss Bowers, blamed Linnet's father for financially ruining her family; Salome Otterbourne, a romance novelist, was being sued by Linnet for libel; Mrs. Otterbourne's daughter, Rosalie, wanted to protect her mother from financial ruin; Jim Ferguson, an outspoken Communist writer, hated Linnet for her wealth; and Dr. Ludwig Bessner, a Swiss psychiatrist, faced Linnet exposing his unorthodox treatments that harmed her friend.

Soon after, the crew pulls a small bundle from the Nile. The missing pistol is wrapped in Mrs. van Schuyler's stole, which has a small bullet hole. There is also a blood-stained handkerchief and a marble ashtray used as a weight. When Linnet's pearl jewelry is found missing, Mrs. van Schuyler denies taking them. Soon after, the necklace is found on Linnet's body, causing Poirot to deduce Mrs van Schuyler "returned" them.

While Poirot and Race conduct their investigation, Louise Bourget is found dead, her throat slit with Dr. Bessner's scalpel, and a fragment of a banknote clutched in her hand. Poirot deduces she saw the murderer exiting Linnet's cabin and extorted money for her silence. Salome Otterbourne claims she saw Louise's murderer and is about to tell Poirot and Race when she is shot through the open cabin door with Pennington's revolver, which is a larger caliber than which shot Linnet.

Poirot gathers everyone in the saloon and reveals that Simon killed Linnet, with Jackie as his accomplice and the plot's mastermind; they had remained lovers all along. Jackie pretended to shoot Simon, drawing attention to herself and ensuring Simon would be temporarily left alone while she was taken to her cabin. After running to Linnet's cabin and shooting her, Simon, returning to the saloon, shot himself in the leg, using Mrs. van Schuyler's stole as a silencer. He then replaced one of the empty cartridges with a new one, should the gun be found. Wrapping the gun in the stole, along with a marble ashtray and the supposed blood-stained handkerchief, he threw the items out the open window, into the Nile. He then used another handkerchief on his now bleeding leg. Jackie later killed Louise, who was blackmailing Simon because she witnessed him enter Linnet's cabin, then killed Mrs. Otterbourne, who saw Jackie exiting Louise's cabin. The plan was that Simon would kill Linnet, inherit her money, and marry his old love at a later date.

When Simon claims Poirot has no proof, Poirot claims that the police can do a gunshot residue test known as a "moulage" test on both him and Jacqueline. Realizing they are caught, Jackie confesses and embraces Simon. Poirot suddenly realizes she has reclaimed her pistol, but cannot prevent her from fatally shooting Simon and then herself. The passengers depart at the next port, and Poirot is congratulated for his work.

Although it was a British film, Death on the Nile premiered in New York on 29 September 1978 to coincide with the sale of tickets for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's opening on 15 December 1978 of the travelling exhibition The Treasures of Tutankhamun, which had piqued interest in Egyptian artefacts. For the U.S. market, artist Richard Amsel was commissioned to change the original British poster art by including the profile of King Tutankhamun with ceremonial knife (and modern revolver), surrounded by the cast.^[11]

In London, there was a Royal Charity Premiere at the ABC Shaftesbury Avenue on 23 October 1978, attended by The Queen, Prince Philip and Earl Mountbatten.^[15]

A third Poirot film, Evil Under the Sun, was meant for release in 1979, but was released in 1982. It was followed by several TV movies starring Ustinov and another theatrical adaptation in 1988 titled Appointment with Death, which marked Ustinov's final portrayal of Hercule Poirot.^[8]