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Agatha Christie in on record speaking about how much she tended to dislike film and TV adaptations of her own work. Generally speaking, she hated the tendency filmmakers had toward making her murder mysteries into whimsical, comedic farces. Christie had some especially harsh words for actress Margaret Rutherford, who played a slapstick version of Miss Marple in three Christie-based films in the 1960s. The author was even barred (by her friends) from watching certain adaptations, as they would most certainly have elicited months of complaints. This is one of the main reasons actor David Suchet took the role of Hercule Poirot so seriously for the celebrated BBC series "Agatha Christie's Poirot" from 1989. 

Of course, Christie's murder mysteries were so naturally cinematic, that filmmakers were drawn to them repeatedly during the author's decades-long writing career. The very first film adaptation of...

Agatha Christie movies have been in demand since the advent of Hollywood cinema. She published over 125 written works, including 74 novels, selling more than two billion copies, making her the second best-selling fiction author ever. The first Agatha Christie movie came in 1928 with the first non-English language adaptation coming a year later. Foreign filmmakers have taken a particular liking to Christie's work. Of more than 30 film adaptations, 14 are non-English adaptations.

Even today, Christie's mystery novels remain popular among readers worldwide. They are still being adapted into television series and movies, whether they're stand-alone stories or part of the mysteries solved by Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. While miniseries and special presentations on television tend to be more common than movies, new Agatha Christie movies also continue to be released. However, the best Agatha Christie movies appeal to fans of the novels as much as they do those who have never read her works.