Rian Johnson's KNIVES OUT, a contemporary whodunnit in the vein of Agatha Christie which found Detective Beniot Blanc (Daniel Craig) tasked with solving the murder of renowned crime novelist, was not only an enormous success with critics, but also made Lionsgate quite a lot of money. Even before KNIVES OUT hit theaters, there had already been talk about a sequel, and Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said that the sequel is now officially a go during the company's recent earnings call, even hinting that a production start is imminent.
While this isn't exactly the most surprising news, it is nice to know that Detective Beniot Blanc will return for more crime-solving shenanigans. Rian Johnson revealed last month that he "already developing a sequel centered on Daniel Craig's Southern detective Benoit Blanc investigating a new case." Ram Bergman, Johnson's producing partner, also said that Daniel Craig was keen to return; "Daniel had so much fun doing it, and he wants to do more," Bergman said. Given how much fun the star-studded mystery was the first time around, I'm pumped to see what Johnson can do with a sequel.
"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 while talking about the possibility of a sequel last year. "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."
The official synopsis for KNIVES OUT:
Acclaimed writer and director Rian Johnson (Brick, Looper, The Last Jedi) pays tribute to mystery mastermind Agatha Christie in KNIVES OUT, a fun, modern-day murder mystery where everyone is a suspect. When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is mysteriously enlisted to investigate. From Harlan’s dysfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan’s untimely death. With an all-star ensemble cast including Chris Evans, Ana De Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette, LaKeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford and Jaeden Martell, KNIVES OUT is a witty and stylish whodunit guaranteed to keep audiences guessing until the very end.
KNIVES OUT will hit Digital on February 7th, followed by a DVD/Blu-ray/4K Ultra HD release on February 25th.