‘Knives Out 3’: Everything We Know About The Upcoming Film So Far
Get ready for another whodunnit: ‘Knives Out 3’ is in the works! Here’s the latest updates on Rian Johnson’s next mystery movie coming to Netflix.
Good news, movie fans: there’s going to be a third Knives Out film! Rian Johnson‘s epic whodunnit franchise debuted with 2019’s Knives Out which was extremely successful. The first film follows Detective Benoit Blanc investigating a death in a wealthy family. Netflix purchased the rights to two sequels, the first of which, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, was released on the streamer in December 2022. The sequel featured the return of Benoit with all new characters as another murder takes place on a private island in Greece. Rian Johnson has already confirmed that he started writing the script for the third film.
It may be a while until Knives Out 3 arrives on Netflix. But there’s already been some updates revealed about the upcoming film! Here is everything we know, so far, about Knives Out 3.
‘Knives Out 3’ Confirmed
Both Knives Out 2 and Knives Out 3 were confirmed in March 2021, when Netflix bought the rights to the sequels for $450 million, Variety reported at the time. The first film was produced by Media Rights Capital and distributed by Lionsgate. Knives Out and Glass Onion received a total of five Golden Globe nominations and two Academy Award nominations.
In January 2023, Rian Johnson confirmed that he started writing the script for Knives Out 3. “I’m starting to work on the third movie now, and that’s also what’s got me creatively jazzed: I don’t have to replicate the last movie at all,” he told Variety. “The goal is to strike out in a completely new direction tonally and thematically.”
‘Knives Out 3’ Release Date
A release date for Knives Out 3 hasn’t been announced. IMDb has it listed as a 2024 release, but that’s not confirmed.
The first Knives Out was released only in theaters on November 27, 2019. It grossed $311.9 million worldwide. After Netflix acquired the rights to the sequels, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery made its debut on the streamer on December 23, 2022. But the film actually had a one-week limited theatrical release starting November 23, where it grossed an impressive $15 million. It’s unclear if the third film will also debut in theaters briefly before arriving on Netflix.
‘Knives Out 3’ Cast
It wouldn’t be a Knives Out movie without Daniel Craig! The British actor confirmed in September 2022 that he’s returning as Benoit Blanc for the third film. “If he [Rian Johnson] keeps writing them, I’ll keep doing them,” Daniel told Variety. “That’s what makes it easy then, he’s such a wonderful writer that it’s there on the page for me to do,” he added. In that same interview, Rian said, “I’m going to keep making these until Daniel blocks me on his phone.”
There’s been no other cast announcements for Knives Out 3. The film is expected to feature an ensemble of actors that haven’t appeared in the franchise yet, besides Daniel. The first film starred Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Katherine Langford, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Christopher Plummer, and Jaeden Martell. The sequel starred Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kate Hudson, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, and Dave Bautista.
The Future of The ‘Knives Out’ Franchise
No Knives Out movies have been confirmed beyond Knives Out 3. But Rian Johnson has been open about wanting the franchise to continue for a little while longer. During an interview on The Filmcast podcast in Jan. 2023, the famous director explained how he’d like the franchise’s subtitle to be changed to “A Benoit Blanc Mystery” for the future.
“After the first movie, I think people knew that they liked ‘Knives Out’ [but] they didn’t necessarily know it well enough to know who Benoit Blanc was. I think that would’ve gotten blank stares,” Rian explained. “And I wanted everyone who loved ‘Knives Out’ to know that [‘Glass Onion’] is the next one of those. So I absolutely 100% was on board and totally got it that we had to do that. But also, it kills me a little bit and I want to see how quickly we can lose that subtitle,” he added.
Rian went on to say, “As soon as we can get past those and get to ‘A Benoit Blanc Mystery’ … and I will say, with this one, with the reach of Netflix and just how many more people I feel like have seen it and how much more it feels like it’s actually in the culture, we’re at least getting closer to being able to get away with ‘A Benoit Blanc Mystery’ and people would know what we’re talking about.”