Benoit Blanc will return for another case next year. Rian Johnson announced Knives Out 3 will be titled Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. The third Knives Out film arrives in 2025 on Netflix, with Daniel Craig reprising his role as Benoit Blanc.
On Friday, Johnson announced the news in a short teaser video on X (formerly Twitter). Craig narrates the video as Blanc, saying, “In the beginning, the knives came out. Then, behold, the glass was shattered. But my most dangerous case yet is about to be revealed.”
More to come very soon! pic.twitter.com/jlaCu17Lkh
— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) May 24, 2024
No casting announcements have been made. However, Johnson revealed that production on Wake Up Dead Man begins soon. Johnson further shared his excitement for the project by explaining his passion for the whodunnit genre.
“I love everything about whodunnits, but one of the things I love most is how malleable the genre is,” Johnson wrote. “There’s a whole tonal spectrum from Carr to Christie, and getting to explore that range is one of the most exciting things about making Benoit Blanc movies.”
Johnson’s whodunnit franchise began in 2019 with Knives Out, starring Craig as Benoit Blanc, the private detective tasked with solving the murder of a famous author. Written and directed by Johnson, Knives Out became a huge hit for Lionsgate, grossing over $312 million on a $40 million budget. Johnson received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
In 2021, Netflix acquired the rights to two sequels for an estimated $469 million. Johnson decided to make Knives Out an anthology, bringing in a new cast of characters with each entry except for Craig’s Blanc, who remained at the center of the mystery. The first sequel, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, released in 2022, receiving positive reviews from critics and garnering Johnson a second screenplay nomination at the Oscars.
