Daniel Craig’s iconic detective Benoit Blanc is set to unravel another intricate mystery in the third installment of Rian Johnson’s Knives Out series, titled Wake Up Dead Man. Johnson returns as both writer and director for this eagerly anticipated sequel.
The original Knives Out film, featuring a star-studded cast including Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Ana de Armas, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2019 and became a critical and commercial success for Lionsgate. It even earned Johnson an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Reflecting on the series’ inception, Johnson told The Hollywood Reporter, “Even when we were making the first movie, I was thinking, ‘If this does well, it would be fun to keep making them, but always in the way that Agatha Christie did her books.'”
Netflix recognized the potential of the franchise, striking a $469 million deal with Johnson and his producing partner Ram Bergman for two sequels. The deal stipulates that Johnson retains creative control, Craig must star in the sequels, and each film must have a budget at least equal to the $40 million of the 2019 original.
Knives Out: Glass Onion, the second film in the series, was released in 2022 and featured Kate Hudson, Janelle Monáe, and Edward Norton. Inspired by classic Agatha Christie tales like Death on the Nile and Evil Under the Sun, Johnson set the mystery on a private island owned by a tech billionaire.
Title
The next installment is officially titled Wake Up Dead Man. Rian Johnson announced this on X (formerly known as Twitter), confirming it as the follow-up to Knives Out and Glass Onion.
Cast
Wake Up Dead Man promises another impressive ensemble cast, including Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Jeremy Renner (in his first film since his snowplow accident), Kerry Washington, Mila Kunis, Josh O’Connor, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, and Daryl McCormack. Daniel Craig will reprise his role as the suave Southern detective Benoit Blanc.
Plot
While specific plot details remain under wraps, Netflix has teased that Benoit Blanc will tackle a new murder mystery surrounded by a fresh array of suspects. In a teaser video, Craig’s voiceover as Blanc hints at the upcoming challenges: “In the beginning, the knives came out. Then behold, the glass was shattered. But my most dangerous case yet is about to be revealed.”
Release Date
The film is slated for a global release on Netflix in 2025, though the exact date has yet to be announced.
Stay tuned for more updates on this thrilling continuation of the Knives Out series.
