If we could get a new Knives Out movie every three years, the movie world would be better off. And while that has held so far, with the third installment, Wake Up Dead Man, slated for November 26th, we know that won’t always be the case. In fact, Rian Johnson is already plotting his new movie outside of the world of Benoit Blanc.
Speaking with Deadline this weekend, Johnson confirmed, “I’m writing right now, [but] it’s not one of these [Knives Out] films. It’s just something completely different, an original thing. I actually feel very energized after making this one [Wake Up Dead Man], but this is three in a row. It’s probably healthy to see other people.”
The Knives Out movies have been consistently exciting for fans of mysteries, doing something exciting in the genre that we haven’t seen in years. That Johnson has been doing it so well for an entire trilogy at this point (we gave Wake Up Dead Man an 8/10) demonstrates a revitalization that has been long overdue. With that, maybe we got greedy, but 2028 just isn’t going to be as thrilling without a fourth Knives Out.
But Johnson isn’t completely removing himself from Knives Out, just recently stating, “So as long as audiences want to keep seeing it, and Daniel [Craig] and I are still having fun making them and still feel like we can come up with stuff that feels not just fresh, but a fresh challenge for us, I think that’ll translate to a new experience for the audience.”
Johnson didn’t detail what his next project outside of Knives Out will be nor where it will be produced, as his contract with Netflix has concluded. Whatever it may be, with Wake Up Dead Man soon approaching the streamer (and theaters!), he and his stacked cast will be on the promotion circuit so we’ll get to hear their perspective on the future of Knives Out.
What do you see in the potential for the Knives Out franchise? Do you think it could have the legs to continue for years to come?
