Rian Johnson and Daniel Craig‘s Benoit Blanc saga will see its third installment, “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,” heading to theaters later this month (before heading to Netflix as its main streaming home). The filmmaker is already teasing on the red carpet that he’s potentially gearing up to hatch ideas for a “Knives Out 4,” although it is unclear if that project comes together, if he’ll stay at Netflix or be auctioned off to another studio (potentially a way to get a stronger theatrical window).
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, on the recent red carpet premiere of “Wake Up Dead Man” (check out The Playlist’s Toronto International Film Festival review of the film right here). Johnson briefly commented about going forward with a fourth installment (after previously alluding to in the past being able to convince Craig to keep making sequels beyond the trilogy).
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“Creatively, I feel energized after making this one,” the filmmaker told THR on the red carpet at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. “Daniel and I are already starting to formulate…what could the next one be if we do another one?…I don’t know why I would stop doing it if we could keep making them,” Johnson said of the possibility of “Knvies Out 4” and more murder mysteries for Craig’s charming Southern sleuth.
The rest of the cast of “Wake Up Dead Man” features a fantastic lineup of talented actors such as Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, and Daryl McCormack.
While the first installment was released by Lionsgate, Johnson and Craig would bring two sequels to Netflix in 2021 for a lucrative deal that saw the streaming giant shelling out a hefty sum to get their mitts on those follow-up whodunnit pics (reportedly in the $450 million range). This likely means that with that two-picture commitment fulfilled, they’re expected to be free to take future “Knives Out” installments elsewhere, and could relieve Craig’s previous annoyances and criticisms of how Netflix has treated the two sequels’ theatrical rollout.
Although we don’t know for sure if Netflix will or won’t attempt to re-up the deal, or at least attempt to make a new offer themselves. “Wake Up Dead Man” is heading to select theaters on November 26 before heading to the streaming service on December 12.
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