Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi follow-up, a whodunit titled Knives Out, recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival to rave reactions, with audiences praising its all-star cast, riotous humor and how hugely entertaining the film is. With this level of enthusiasm, the question was put to Rian Johnson whether he’d do another film like this in the future. And while Knives Out might not get a sequel in the strictest sense of the word, Rian Johnson does have something in mind, as he explained:
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.
Making sequels generally doesn’t interest Rian Johnson, so a Knives Out sequel probably isn’t going to happen... not exactly. Although he isn’t planning on making a Knives Out 2 that will continue the story from the first film in a direct way, Rian Johnson does envision a way to continue telling stories like Knives Out and it all comes down to Daniel Craig.
The director seems to have really enjoyed making Knives Out and working with the James Bond actor and likes the idea of continuing that relationship. Knives Out is a murder mystery and in it Daniel Craig plays Detective Benoit Blanc. And while the central mystery of Knives Out will be presumably solved within its runtime, Rian Johnson thinks that he could make more movies with Daniel Craig reprising his role as Benoit Blanc.
In Rian Johnson’s mind, because it wouldn’t be telling the exact same story and wouldn’t be a continuation of Knives Out, such a film would not qualify as a sequel. As he told Uproxx, it would be akin to what Agatha Christie did. Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc could be the Hercule Poirot of a Rian Johnson series of mystery movies.
It’s like how Kenneth Branagh, who is just the latest actor to play Agatha Christie’s detective, was in Murder on the Orient Expressand next year he will reprise his role as Hercule Poirot for Death on the Nile, which is not a direct sequel to Orient Express but a different story featuring the detective.
There could be a series, or at least another Benoit Blanc mystery film, starring Daniel Craig. Only this time, he would be tackling a different case and surrounded by an entirely new cast of characters. As Rian Johnson said, that would just necessitate him coming up with a new mystery, a new location, a different type of mystery and an all new cast to surround Daniel Craig with.
Rian Johnson sounds super high on the idea and given how much fun he seems to have had making Knives Out, it seems like it could be a real possibility for the director in the future. He even said that he’s crossing his fingers that he gets to do more of these films so more than something he'd be interested in, he seems to actively want to pursue this.
How a series of mystery movies would fit in with his schedule and making a Star Wars trilogy we don’t know, but if Knives Out is half as beloved by audiences as the reactions out of TIFF would indicate, there may be some strong support for another Benoit Blanc mystery.
Knives Out opens in theaters on November 27. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to keep track of all this fall’s biggest movies.
