#branagh

The star-packed trailer for Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile dropped Wednesday, offering a first glimpse at the filmmaker’s take on the Agatha Christie murder mystery. Branagh joins Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Emma Mackey, Annette Bening, Rose Leslie, Russell Brand, Letitia Wright, Tom Bateman, Ali Fazal, Dawn French, Sophie Okonedo, and Jennifer Saunders in the film and most can be seen in the nearly two-minute clip.

But there’s another star yet to have its big reveal: the famed 128-carat Tiffany Diamond.

Made famous by Audrey Hepburn in a promo shot for Breakfast at Tiffany’s and last seen by Lady Gaga the night she won an Oscar for writing “Shallow” in A Star is Born, the appearance in the new 20th Century Studios film marks the diamond’s major screen outing. (The diamond appears briefly in a quick shot with Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.) Per a confirmation from the luxe jewelry house, the Tiffany Diamond will be prominently featured at the center of Death on the Nile. It can be seen above on Gadot in a scene with Hammer.

“The Tiffany Diamond is a priceless symbol of the highest standards of virtuosity and craftsmanship at Tiffany, and rarely makes an appearance beyond its vault,” said Reed Krakoff, chief artistic officer. “A central role in the adaptation of Agatha Christie’s classic novel is deserving of our priceless diamond’s debut.”

Anon this is a PIPING HOT COME-AND-GET-IT TAKE if I’ve ever seen one.

But here’s a thing: the age difference between Shakespeare and his wife was 8 years.

Hollywood (or Branagh, I guess): “Nah, for full effect, let’s ramp it up to 26 years. We all know that an age difference is 3.25 times as large when the woman is the older party than when it’s the other way round. Let’s get the oldest active and living female star we can possibly find for this.

My question for you: is this ...

a) reactionary: “a slightly older woman is so monstrous that we need to hit the fact home with a sledgehammer and make it weird”

or b) subversive: “we have here an historic example of a couple with ‘unusual’ age relations, let’s make the most of it by making sure that no one misses this”