The S.S. Karnak is a steamboat that appears in the 2022 film Death on the Nile, based on the 1937 novel of the same name by Agatha Christie.
Background[]
The S.S. Karnak is depicted as a luxurious and glamorous river cruise ship that travels on the Nile in Egypt in 1937. It is smaller than the Papyrus and the Lotus, two other steamers traveling on the Nile. The boat was built as a full-scale set on a railway track in the parking lot of Longcross Studios in Surrey, England. The production designer Jim Clay and his team designed and constructed the steamer in seven months, inspired by the Art Deco style of the 1930s and the original illustrations of the novel by Tom Adams.
The set featured a spacious two-story lounge at the bow, a dining room, a library, a bar, a sun deck, and several cabins for the passengers and crew. The steamer was also surrounded by a partial water tank to create the illusion of floating on the Nile. It was designed to match director Kenneth Branagh's shooting style, which required composite sets that allowed him to move freely between different scenes and locations. The boat was placed on a railway track that enabled it to move in and out of the stage according to the weather and lighting conditions.
Inspiration[]
The S.S. Karnak is inspired by the real-life Steam Ship Sudan, which was built for King Fouad in 1885 and acquired by Thomas Cook in 1911. It was named after the ancient Egyptian temple complex of Karnak, located near Luxor. Agatha Christie herself traveled on the steamship Sudan in 1937 and used it as a model for her novel Death on the Nile. The Steam Ship Sudan is still operating today as a tourist attraction and has been used as a filming location for previous adaptations of Christie's novel, such as the 2004 TV film starring David Suchet.
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