You might remember back in September that writer/director Rian Johnson revealed to Uproxx during the Toronto International Film Festival that he would love to make a string of films featuring Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc, the detective character that is the main character in Knives Out, who is trying to solve murders.
JOHNSON: “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. 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.”
Showbiz411 is now reporting that Johnson is already writing the sequel and as Rian stated back during TIFF would continue to focus on Craig’s private investigator/detective Benoit Blanc.
So I learned exclusively that “Knives Out” director Rian Johnson– who’s waiting for his marching orders on new “Star Wars” movies– has been commissioned to write a sequel of sorts to his clever, funny “Knives Out.” Johnson will pen a new story for Craig’s charming Southern detective Benoit Blanc. “It will have all new characters and a crime to solve for Benoit Blanc.”
Knives Out has earned an impressive $247.3 million on a budget of $40 million making it one of the most profitable original films released in 2019 alongside other studio features such as Us, Ford v Ferrari, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and Rocketman.
I think it’ll be just as interesting to see the new cast that Rian Johnson assembles for the sequel as much as the new murder mystery.
I would personally love to see Rian cast Paul Rudd in one of the roles, he played a darker character in Duncan Jones’ futuristic thriller Mute and I’d love to see him play more morally ambiguous characters in the future. Plus, having someone that has dabbled in both comedies and drama might be a good fit for a project like this.
Given how quickly Knives Out was put together, this sequel will likely be shot before Johnson jumps on board his Star Wars film as reports have pointed towards Star Wars 2022 won’t be Rian’s project.
If you haven’t checked it out it’s totally worth your time and was one of my favorite films of last year.
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.
SOURCE: SHOWBIZ 411
