Here’s everything we know about Knives Out 3, the next Benoit Blanc mystery.
Move over Poirot, because despite Kenneth Branagh’s best attempts to revive the mustachioed sleuth, another modern-day detective extraordinaire holds the crown: Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc.
First debuting in 2019’s Knives Out, Craig has reunited with Rian Johnson for a sequel on Netflix: Glass Onion, taking the character away from the Thrombeys to a Greek island for a whole new story, with an all-star cast to boot.
If there’s any justice, Knives Out 3 will be another in a long line of sequels, so here’s what we know so far.
Contents:
- Is there going to be a Knives Out 3?
- Knives Out 3 release date
- Knives Out 3 cast
- Knives Out 3 plot
- Knives Out 3 trailer
Is there going to be a Knives Out 3?
The honest answer: yes, there’s going to be a Knives Out 3… but it’s in very early development.
Speaking to Deadline, Johnson said he’s keen to jump straight into piecing together the threequel. “It’s interesting. We structured the [Netflix deal] so that if I wanted to do something else next, I could,” he explained.
“And I think everybody assumed I’d have a couple other random ideas – unrelated projects – that I’ve been kicking around. But, honestly, over the past couple of months, the most exciting creative thing to me right now is that third movie.
“And so, I think I’m going to hop right into it. Not because of a contractual obligation, but, genuinely, that’s the shiny object I find my nose pointed toward right now. [It’s] the idea of figuring out how it can be completely different from this one as well as the first one.”
In a new interview with Wired, Johnson also said: “It’s such a weird time right now because I’m just starting to work on writing the next mystery movie, and it’ll be a few years before it comes out and god only knows what the landscape’s gonna look like at that point. I feel like trying to guess where we’re gonna be next is maybe a fool’s errand.”
Knives Out 3: Is there a release date?
As of Janauary 2023, Knives Out 3 doesn’t have a release date – however, it’s likely it won’t be released until 2024 at the very earliest.
As the script hasn’t even been written and Glass Onion is finishing its limited theatrical run ahead of coming to Netflix, a release date next year would be ambitious.
In an interview with Comic Book, producer Ram Bergman said: “Well, it’s a good question. The first one, [Johnson] had the idea for years in his head, but he only put pen to paper like late January and by end of October we were filming it, which is a super fast.
“This movie, he really did not have an idea. He just stopped thinking and we were… from the moment he started really writing it, like, nine months later, a year later, we were filming.
“So, the good thing, he is very motivated to go do the next one as quickly as possible. But, you know, we’ll see how fast he is but this is gonna be a challenge. It’s gonna be a bigger challenge. So we’ll see how long it’s gonna take.”
Knives Out 3 cast: Who’s in it?
We can say this much: whatever shape Knives Out 3 takes, Daniel Craig will return as Benoit Blanc.
In an interview with Variety, the James Bond actor said: “If he keeps writing them, I’ll keep doing them. That’s what makes it easy then, he’s such a wonderful writer that it’s there on the page for me to do.”
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Speaking to Deadline, he continued: “Rian seems to me to be very excited about getting on with the next one. He’s already got some ideas, and they sound to me to be really interesting, so I’m going to let him just get on with that.
“I mean, if people are interested, then we’ll make them. But if there ever came a point where either Rian and I thought we were just churning them out, I think we would back away. I mean, I just don’t think that’s what either of us want to do in life. Unless people are getting genuine fun out of them, forget it.”
As for anyone else in the Knives Out 3 cast, they haven’t been confirmed yet. As each new installment is expected to feature a new mystery, it’ll be a fresh ensemble cast. We’ll update this space upon any announcements.
Knives Out 3 plot: What will it be about?
Plot details regarding Knives Out 3 haven’t been shared at the time of writing – but Johnson has lots of ideas.
“I’ve got a Moleskine notebook that I carry everywhere and I’m constantly jotting stuff down in it. The first 80 percent of the process, for me, is scribbling in notebooks and structuring it all out. I’m trying to get ahead,” he told Deadline.
“Even when I’m doing all the publicity for this film, I’m trying to start building up a structure, an idea, so that after New Year, when it’s time to actually get to work, I’m hopefully not just staring at that horrible blank page. But you always are, I guess.”
Johnson said he wants to “dig deeper” into the world of whodunnits. “It’s tough, because it’s not an expansive genre. It’s not like there are thousands of classics, like film noir, where it feels like there’s unlimited amount of stuff to draw from,” he explained.
“There’s been plenty of different Agatha Christie adaptations over the years, and those are always fun to dig into. But in terms of actual innovative stuff in the genre, you do find yourself coming back to the same titles.”
One area the director is keen to explore is Benoit Blanc’s sexuality, after Glass Onion revealed his relationship with a man played by Hugh Grant.
Speaking to Above the Line, Johnson said: “If you watch the movie, I think it’s made explicit. In terms of exploring it, I mean, maybe, but with these movies, I mean, they’re not really about the detective’s sexuality.
“[But] it’s baked into the genre a little bit [when] the detective is kind of set outside the realm of the human drama that’s going on with the rest of the suspects, so I’m sure it’ll come into play because it’s a big part of who he is, obviously. It’s just a fact about his character.”
Knives Out 3 trailer: Is there a trailer?
No, there isn’t a trailer for Knives Out 3. As it’s yet to be written or enter production, we’ll be waiting a while for any footage, but we’ll update this space once it’s shared online.
In the meantime, you can check out the trailer for Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery below:
That’s everything we know about Knives Out 3. Check out our review of the film here, our breakdown of the cast here, and our other TV & movies hubs below:
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