Everything To Know About ‘Knives Out 3’: ‘Wake Up, Dead Man’

By Anna Menta
Published May 30, 2024, 12:00 p.m. ET

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Daniel Craig

Knives Out 3 goes into production soon, which means that Film Twitter is once again abuzz with the Knives Out 3 cast announcements.

Officially titled Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, this third film in Rian Johnson’s murder mystery franchise. As with the second film, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Knives Out 3 will release on Netflix, as part of the streamer’s $469 million deal with Johnson for two Knives Out sequels. While we don’t know much about the story yet for Wake Up Dead Man, we do know that it will feature the return of Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, a bumbling private investigator called in to solve a murder mystery.

As with the first two Knives Out movies, Wake Up Dead Man will feature an ensemble cast of some of the hottest, buzziest actors in Hollywood right now. It’s already one of the most talked-about movies of the year, and it hasn’t even begun filming yet!

Here’s what we know so far about Knives Out 3, including the Knives Out 3 cast and the Knives Out 3 release date.

Knives Out 3 title:

The official Knives Out 3 title is Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, as announced by writer/director Rian Johnson last week. Johnson shared the title, along with a shorted animated promotional video, on his X and Instagram accounts.

In a thread on X, Johnson also teased that this third movie might be quite different in tone from the first two films. “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 added in a follow-up tweet, “We’re about to go into production on the 3rd one, and I’m very, very excited to share the title, which gives a little hint of where it’s going.”

Based on the title alone, it sounds like Knives Out 3 may be leaning even more into comedy than the first two films.

Knives Out 3 cast:

The Knives Out 3 cast so far includes eight-time Academy Award nominee Glenn Close, Scandal star Kerry Washington, Challengers star Josh O’Connor, All of Us Strangers and Ripley star Andrew Scott, and Priscilla and Civil War star Cailee Spaeny. (I’m just going to say it: Andrew Scott definitely did it!) And of course, Daniel Craig will return as everyone’s favorite Southern detective, Benoit Blanc.

Given that the first two films featured sprawling, star-studded ensemble casts, we have no doubt that there are more Knives Out 3 cast announcements to come.

Knives Out 3 release date:

Knives Out 3 is set to stream on Netflix in 2025, but there is not yet an exact Wake Up Dead Man release date. Given that the film is just now going into production, and given that both previous Knives Out films released around Thanksgiving time, we can guess that Knives Out 3 will release around Thanksgiving 2025. Like the Glass Onion, which opened in theaters one month before it came to Netflix, we expect that Knives Out 3 will have a limited theatrical release before streaming on Netflix.

But that’s pure speculation. Stay tuned!