I don’t think anybody — not even writer-director Rian Johnson nor leading man Daniel Craig — had any idea that 2019’s Knives Out would spawn a film franchise of this scale. To the point that production for Knives Out 3 (officially dubbed Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery) is now underway.
Here’s what we know about Netflix‘s hotly-anticipated follow-up to Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
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Knives Out 3 won’t be the final chapter
Back in 2021, Netflix acquired the rights to two Knives Out sequels (along with the streaming rights of the original) for a staggering US$450 million after something of a bidding war between all the major players, i.e. Apple, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+.
As noted by Collider, this half-a-billion figure also covers the production budgets for both films, complete buyouts for those who have backend agreements (i.e. Johnson and Craig), and most of the pre-marketing costs.
While nothing has been formally announced by the streaming giant just yet, Rian Johnson confirmed his intention to expand the series during the 2022 Toronto Film Festival so long as Daniel Craig remains involved as campy private detective Benoit Blanc.
“I’m going to keep making these until Daniel [Craig] blocks me on his phone.”
Rian Johnson
A sentiment the 56-year-old James Bond actor would echo around the same time: “If he keeps writing them, I’ll keep doing them. That’s what makes it easy then, he’s such a wonderful writer that it’s there on the page for me to do.”
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What will the third Knives Out movie be about?
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery will explore Benoit Blanc’s “most dangerous case yet.”
“In the beginning, the knives came out. Then, behold, the glass was shattered. But my most dangerous case yet is about to be revealed.”
Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), Wake Up Dead Man reveal teaser
Apart from that, however, details have been kept very hush-hush.
Similar to Glass Onion, this won’t be a “sequel” in the traditional sense; rather a standalone adventure following Craig’s memorable detective a la Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot.
“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,” Rian Johnson told SiriusXM.
“It’s just coming up with a whole new mystery, a whole new location, an all-new cast, whole new mechanics of the appeal of a mystery, and everything.”
“You look at Agatha Christie 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.”
Elsewhere, Johnson noted this wasn’t merely a matter of fulfilling a contractual obligation, but a project that genuinely excited him.
“We structured the [Netflix deal] so that if I wanted to do something else next, I could. And I think everybody assumed I’d have a couple of other random ideas — unrelated projects — that I’ve been kicking around,” he told Deadline.
“Honestly, over the past couple of months, the most exciting creative thing to me right now is that third movie. And so, I think I’m going to hop right into it… genuinely, that’s the shiny object I find my nose pointed toward right now. [It’s] the idea of figuring out how it can be completely different from this one as well as the first one.”
In line with the title convention established with Glass Onion, which was a reference to The Beatles track, Knives Out 3 is a reference to the U2 song ‘Wake Up Dead Man.’ Perhaps there’s a clue in there somewhere…
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Do we know the Knives Out 3 cast members?
Aside from the return of Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery will be brought to life by the following ensemble cast…
- Josh O’Connor (The Crown, Challengers)
- Glenn Close (Fatal Attraction, Dangerous Liaisons)
- Josh Brolin (No Country For Old Men, Sicario)
- Mila Kunis (Black Swan)
- Jeremy Renner (Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol, Wind River)
- Kerry Washington (Scandal)
- Andrew Scott (Sherlock, Ripley)
- Cailee Spaeny (Bad Times at the El Royale)
- Daryl McCormack (Peaky Blinders)
- Thomas Haden Church (Spider-Man 3)
To refresh your memories, the first film featured the likes of Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Christopher Plummer, Michael Shannon, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, LaKeith Stanfield, and Katherine Langford.
Glass Onion, on the other hand, welcomed Janelle Monae, Kathryn Hahn, Edward Norton, Dave Bautista, Kate Hudson, Leslie Odom Jr, Madelyn Cline, and Jessica Henwick with cameos from Ethan Hawke, Hugh Grant, Stephen Sondheim, Natasha Lyonne, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Yo-Yo Ma, Serena Williams, as well as Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
When is the Knives Out 3 release date?
Principal photography officially commenced on June 10, 2024, in London with the view of Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery’s release date falling sometime in 2025; most likely the latter half around November/Christmas as was the case with Glass Onion.
At this stage, it’s unclear whether it’ll wrap up in time to hit the festival circuit or how limited the limited theatrical run will be before it arrives on streaming queues around the world.
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Netflix’s $300 million mistake
According to box office analysts, Netflix’s decision to leave the party early essentially let millions trickle down the drain.
As some of you may recall, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery was given an extremely limited single-week theatrical preview in just a handful of cinemas ahead of its arrival to streaming queues the world over.
And despite playing with both hands tied behind their back, it still managed to earn approximately US$15 million; becoming Netflix’s biggest-ever North American theatrical release with just 600 locations to screen the murder mystery in the process.
Had they opted for your run-of-the-mill rollout, however, pundits forecasted a considerably heftier global box office haul — one that was closer to the US$300 million benchmark against a US$40 million production budget. Potentially even more.
“With a traditional wide release, premium screen spread, and full marketing campaign, I think Glass Onion could have generated at least US$50 million to US$60 million to lead the entire market,” Shawn Robbins, Chief Analyst at BoxOffice.com, told CNBC.
“It’s a lost opportunity for Netflix in terms of extra money — they had a big chance and they whiffed,” added Wall Street analyst Eric Handler.
What took the market share in the crimson N’s absentia?
Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever reportedly led the North American box office, generating US$45.9 million in domestic receipts during the country’s three-day weekend and US$64 million across the total five-day Thanksgiving holiday period.
Have they “learned their lesson”? Who knows.
Do we have a Knives Out 3 trailer?
Currently, we do not have a Knives Out 3 trailer. Although there is an announcement teaser for Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery — check it out above.
In the meantime, feel free to revisit Knives Out and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery on Netflix.
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