Rian Johnson Drops Teaser, Reveals Name for Next Knives Out Movie

Benoit Blanc is officially back on the case.

On Friday, May 24, director Rian Johnson dropped a teaser for the third installment of his Knives Out franchise called Wake Up Dead Man. 

The 45-second clip revealed that Daniel Craig will return as private detective Blanc, reprising his role from the franchise’s first two films. 

“In the beginning, the knives came out,” Craig, 56, says via voiceover. “Then behold, the glass was shattered. But my most dangerous case yet is about to be revealed.”

After a coffin is shown and a bell tolls, the teaser reveals Wake Up Dead Man will be released in 2025. The movie will be distributed by Netflix as part of the $450 million deal the streamer made for two Knives Out sequels in 2021. 

In accordance with the teaser’s release, Johnson, 50 — who also wrote and directed 2019’s Knives Out and 2022’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery — gushed about his anticipation.

“I love everything about whodunnits, but one of the things I love most is how malleable the genre is,” he wrote via X. “There’s a whole tonal spectrum from Carr to Christie, and getting to explore that range is one of the most exciting things about making Benoit Blanc movies.”

Johnson also shared, “We’re about to go into production on the 3rd one, and I’m very, very excited to share the title, which gives a little hint of where it’s going.”

The first Knives Out movie featured an ensemble cast including Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette and LaKeith Stanfield attempting to solve the murder of crime novelist Harlan Thrombey, played by the late Christopher Plummer.

Glass Onion, its follow-up, starred an ensemble cast including Edward Norton, Kate Hudson, Janelle Monae, Dave Bautista, Leslie Odom, Jr., and Kathryn Hahn.

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Other than Craig, no casting has been announced for Wake Up Dead Man. Specific plot details also remain closely guarded. 

The Knives Out franchise has represented an opportunity for Craig to shed the role of James Bond, the iconic franchise he led for five films across 15 years.

“You think there are lots of wonderful scripts out there, but apparently there’s not,” Craig told BBC in December 2022. “They’re not all that good. So when something like this comes through your letterbox or is handed to you, I was just so desperately excited.”

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