We’ve got to do this more often. Following its commercial and critical success, Knives Out will return with two new sequels on Netflix.
The 2019 mystery film following Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) as he tried to figure out who killed a famous crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer). With the help of Marta (Ana de Armas), the detective had the entire Thrombey family to investigate. Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford and Jaeden Martell all appeared in the movie.
Knives Out went on to be nominated for three Golden Globes and writer Rian Johnson received an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay. Even before the murder feature found success, Johnson shared his plans for creating more stories that could stand on their own.
“I’ll tell you, the truth is I had such a great time working with Daniel Craig and I had so much fun doing this on every level, from writing it to making it,” Johnson said in an interview for Uproxx in September 2019. “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 what Agatha Christie did. 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. It’d be a blast.”
Craig, who stood out in the movie with his unique accent, previously discussed how Johnson’s approach to the topics in Knives Out benefited the storytelling.
“It’s a very funny, entertaining movie. Let’s just get that out right now. But what Rian is so brilliant at doing, he’s just layered in some really nice social commentary. We did this last year; we finished this time last year, and it’s right up to date. Everything’s in there,” he told Screenrant in November 2019. “This is a movie which hopefully will entertain, but which will raise up some issues. Hopefully not cause a row, but cause some good discussion.”
Even though viewers loved the set up for Knives Out, the writer and director confirmed that the next chapter is not going to follow the same circumstance as before.
“There’s so many different things you can do with it. And that’s what’s fun about it,” Johnson said to SiriusXM in February 2020. “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.”
Scroll down for all the details to know so far about Knives Out 2:
After his scene-stealing performance, it was confirmed in March 2021 that Craig would be the focus of the next two films. The James Bond star previously talked about wanting to return to the Knives Out universe.
“I’d be over the moon [to do a sequel]. I mean, I’d do anything for Rian. If he writes something, I’ll do it. Of course I will. Why wouldn’t I? I had a ton of fun doing it. You aim for that every time, you aim for that to work out. It rarely, rarely does, but it did on that movie and how nice is that?” Craig told Entertainment Weekly in January 2020.
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Knives Out 2 will have plenty of suspects for fans including Dave Bautista, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson, Jessica Henwick and Madelyn Cline.
Bautista discussed joining the popular franchise after his involvement was announced.
“It feels terrifying. I’m nervous about it. I’m really nervous,” Bautista told Slash Film before filming began in May 2021. “It’s one of those things where now the pressure’s on, because people are expecting things from you. I want to deliver. I take pride in that. I’m a game player. I want to throw a touchdown pass.”
He added: “I know the script is brilliant, I know the director is brilliant. The names are going to get bigger and better, and for me, I can’t get it out of my head that — there’s always going to be a part of me that feels like I’m new to this and I’m still learning, and I want to be able to hold my own. So there is a bit of an intimidation factor, because all these actors and directors are just accomplished and seasoned and award-winners."
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A new mystery means a new location to set it in.
"Aaaaaaaand WE’RE OFF! Day one of filming on the next Benoit Blanc mystery. Thanks to all the lovely patient people here in Greece for letting us do all this murdering on their peaceful shores,” Johnson captioned a photo of a camera on set in June 2021.
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Hudson and Hahn, who worked on How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, celebrated their new project together with a cute selfie on location in Greece.
"Reunited baby yeah!!! If we can’t get Kathryn Hahn on @instagram then I’ll just keep having her take these pics with her selfie face and post them myself! Love and missed my bestie ❤️#datenight #feelslikeyesterdayHTLAG" Hudson captioned the group photo via Instagram in June 2021. Hudson's boyfriend Danny Fujikawa and Hahn's husband, Ethan Sandler, were also in the shot.
Courtesy Kate Hudson/Instagram
Fans may need to prepare for completely new titles.
“It’s been such a mindf--k, because I sat on the idea for the first one for 10 years, and with this one, I’m starting with a blank page. It’s not really a Knives Out sequel. I need to come up with a title for it so I can stop calling it ‘The Knives Out Sequel’ because it’s just Daniel Craig as the same detective with a totally new cast," Johnson told Digital Spy in September 2020.
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Writer and director Johnson confirmed on September 13, 2021, that filming wrapped on the movie. “We just wrapped production on the next Benoit Blanc mystery,” he tweeted before giving a shout-out to Leos Carax’s musical psychological film Anette. “And also I finally watched Annette and holy s—t it’s amazing. Sending so much love and gratitude to our INCREDIBLE crew and cast and Leos Carax!”
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Craig promised that the sequel is not just a remake of the original, it’s something all its own. “Dare I say it’s better?” the Skyfall actor told Empire in October 2021. “We'll see. I don't want to tempt fate. It's different, and that's the amazing thing.”
He continued, “It's still a Benoit Blanc mystery, but it's very different. I'm very excited about it.”
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