Rian Johnson teases new setting & mystery for the Knives Out sequel

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Just yesterday it was officially announced that a sequel to Rian Johnson's star-studded murder-mystery KNIVES OUT had been given the go-ahead, but with the exception of Daniel Craig's Detective Beniot Blanc, it seems that the sequel could be an entirely different beast. While speaking on The Jess Cagle Show, Rian Johnson expressed how excited he is to return, but stated that he doesn't "even think of it as a sequel."

The same way Agatha Christie wrote a bunch of Poirot novels, we can do that with Blanc and keep making new mysteries, you know, whole new cast, whole new location, whole new mystery, it's just another Beniot Blanc mystery. There's so many different things you could do with it.

After joking that the KNIVES OUT sequel would take place in space, Johnson went on to say that the follow-up could jump to another sub-genre altogether, just like Agatha Christie's novels. "You look at Agatha Christie's books for example, it's not like every single one is a mansion, and a family, and a library, and a detective," Johnson explained. "Besides settings, she also explored a bunch of different sub-genres, And Then They Were None is essentially a slasher film, it's basically a horror movie; The ABC Murders is kind of like a proto-serial killer movie in a way. She found a very different narrative way into each of them." So beyond the return of Daniel Craig as Detective Beniot Blanc, the KNIVES OUT sequel really could be anything. I'm pumped.

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 (that's today!), followed by a DVD/Blu-ray/4K Ultra HD release on February 25th.