Summary

Rian Johnson is currently working on Knives Out 3 in full force after the end of the recent WGA strike. The story and plot details of Knives Out 3 have not been revealed yet, but it is expected to maintain the comedy genre blend of the previous movies. Daniel Craig will reprise his role as Blanc in the third movie, and there are expectations for Noah Segan and Joseph Gordon-Levitt to join the cast. Production timing and the possibility of a subtitle change for the franchise remain uncertain.

With nearly a year gone since the last movie hit Netflix, Rian Johnson has offered a promising update on Knives Out 3. Johnson’s murder-mystery comedy franchise first launched with the eponymous 2019 movie centered on eccentric private detective Benoit Blanc as he investigates the death of novelist Harlan Thrombey, while its sequel, Glass Onion, saw him head to a private Greek island for a tech billionaire’s murder mystery party. Both Knives Out movie have scored widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike, earning Johnson Oscar nominations for Best Original and Best Adapted Screenplay.

During a recent interview with TheWrap to discuss his recent producer work, Johnson was asked for an update on Knives Out 3’s development. The writer/director confirmed that he’s in “full force” writing mode for the highly anticipated Netflix threequel while also revealing how far along he is in putting the next Benoit Blanc mystery together. Check out what Johnson shared below:

It’s coming along. I obviously couldn’t work during the strike, and now that it’s over, I’m diving in full force, and so it’s coming along. I’ve got the premise, I’ve got the setting, I’ve got what the movie is in my head. It’s just a matter of writing the damn thing.

What To Expect From Knives Out 3

Given Johnson’s anthology-like approach to the movies thus far, taking a page out of Agatha Christie’s playbook for Hercule Poirot’s various adventures in her novels, nothing’s known about the story for Knives Out 3 at this point. The writer/director has previously teased his desire to continue to deliver a tonally and thematically different chapter in Blanc’s journey from the prior two installments, though with the comedy of the first movies being part of the reason they’ve scored acclaim, it seems unlikely he would completely deviate from the genre blend.

As far as the threequel’s cast goes, it’s already confirmed that Craig will be reprising his role as Blanc for the next movie, having been set in Netflix’s mammoth two-movie deal back in early 2021. Those who will join the Golden Globe nominee is currently unknown, though it is generally expected that Johnson’s longtime collaborator Noah Segan will be back for Knives Out 3 after having appeared in Glass Onion in a different role from the original movie. Fans of the filmmaker have also been pitching for Joseph Gordon-Levitt to reunite with Johnson for the next movie after the fellow Golden Globe nominee made vocal cameos in the first two movies.

With Johnson having confirmed prior to the WGA strike that he had begun writing on Knives Out 3, it remains to be seen when production will begin for the threequel, especially as the SAG-AFTRA strike recently hit a snag with talks falling apart with the AMPTP. It will be interesting to see, however, if Johnson gets his desire to change the franchise’s subtitle to his desired A Benoit Blanc Mystery after previously expressing a dissatisfaction with the Knives Out Mystery tag attached to Glass Onion. Given Kenneth Branagh’s Poirot movies have largely succeeded without any similar subtitle, and Johnson’s mysteries have proven plenty successful in theaters and on Netflix, the streamer may listen to the filmmakers’ desires and allow him to change it accordingly.

Source: TheWrap