Despite the fact his Walther PPK has finally been retired, we won’t be experiencing any shortage of Daniel Craig. Earlier this year, Variety reported the former James Bond actor was reprising his role as Private Detective Benoit Blanc in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out 2 (official title Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery). Today, after months of discussion about its simultaneous arrival to cinemas and Netflix, we finally have a confirmed Knives Out 2 release date: December 23rd.
At this stage, details surrounding the much-anticipated sequel’s plot are still under wraps. All we know is the premise: “Tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) invites his friends for a getaway on his private Greek island. When someone turns up dead, Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is put on the case.”
Production kicked off on location at the island of Spetses, Greece around June/July 2021, before principal photography meandered elsewhere, and eventually wrapped up later that year around September 13th at what appears to be New York City’s Empire State Building. Or at least a set designed to replicate the iconic landmark.
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Writer and director Rian Johnson has noted Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery won’t be a strict continuation of its predecessor. Rather it’ll be a standalone film following Craig’s Private Detective Benoit Blanc on his next mystery.
“There’s so many different things you can do with it. And that’s what’s fun about it,” Rian Johnson revealed to SiriusXM.
“You look at Agatha Christie’s books and it’s not like every single one is a mansion, a library, and a detective. Besides setting, she also explored a bunch of different subgenres. She found a different narrative way into each of them.”
As previously mentioned, Daniel Craig reprises his role as the charming Hercule Poirot-inspired sleuth, though sadly, without everyone’s crush Ana de Armas as Marta Cabrera or the hilariously dysfunctional Drysdale family.
Confirmed names in the all-new ensemble cast aside from Craig and Norton include Dave Bautista, Janelle Monae, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr, Kate Hudson, Madelyn Cline, Jessica Henwick, and America’s other dad Ethan Hawke, with rumours of Jada Pinkett Smith lurking about. While none of the above has been linked to a defined character, we can assume they’ll all portray potential suspects of the brand new murder (and at least one of them the victim of said crime).
“I’ve never really been interested in doing sequels – but this, the idea of doing more of these with Daniel as his character, is not sequels.”
“It’s just coming up with a whole new mystery, a whole new location, all-new cast, whole new mechanics of the appeal of a mystery, and everything.”
Knives Out cinematographer Steve Yedlin, editor Bob Ducsay, and costume designer Jenny Eagan have also returned to re-capture lightning in a bottle.
Considering how the first instalment generated over US$311 million (AU$433 million) at the box office against a comparatively meagre US$40 million (AU$55 million budget) – plus the dazzling critical acclaim which came with it – you can understand why the industry views Rian Johnson’s whodunnit franchise as hot property.
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Subjected to a bidding war from the big three streamers (i.e. Apple, Amazon, Netflix) as well as the new kids on the block (i.e. Disney+, HBO Max, so forth), it didn’t take long before the crimson N pulled out its mythical chequebook to purchase the rights from Lionsgate — as well as greenlighting both Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and Knives Out 3 for a complete trilogy.
Initial reports valued the deal at approximately US$450 million (AU$627 million) until The Hollywood Reporter revealed Netflix had actually “inked a dagger-driving US$469 million (AU$653 million deal).” One that also entailed the complete package of Rian Johnson, T-Street producing partner Ram Bergman, and Daniel Craig. Multiple sources indicate Johnson, Bergman, and Craig will walk away with upwards of US$100 million each.
“The math doesn’t work. There’s no way to explain it,” one of the losing bidders told Variety.
“The world has gone mad. It’s a mind-boggling deal.”
Once again, the Knives Out 2 release date is December 23rd of 2022 (Netflix) — stay tuned for the first proper trailer, but in the meantime, check out the title reveal teaser below.
