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When Benoit Blanc, the Southern investigator played by Daniel Craig, first hit out screen in 2019 with Knives Out, did you expect that we would be here, five years later, breathlessly awaiting cast announcements for a third film?
Not to brag about our own detective skills, but we’re not. That man is charming as hell and twisty whodunnits are a lot of fun! Good news then that American writer-director Rian Johnson recently announced that production is set to begin on the new film. And so the countdown begins. Here is what we know about the latest and ever-evolving casting updates, release dates and plot lines.
Who is in Knives Out 3?
Okay, so who is in this thing? Craig returns, obvs. Recent Esquire cover star Andrew Scott will be there too. Will he be doing the creepy thing à la Ripley and Sherlock? Or going for heartbroken like his recent critically-acclaimed performance in All of Us Strangers? Whatever he does, it will probably steal the show.
The Crown and fellow Esquire cover man Josh O’Connor has been cast too – add in Zendaya and Mike Faist for a Challengers reunion? We can but dream. Also in this thing: Scandal star Kerry Washington and Priscilla and Civil War breakout Cailee Spaeny, no-introductions-needed Glenn Close and erstwhile Avenger Jeremy Renner. Oh and Mila Kunis and Irish actor Daryl McCormack. Josh Brolin and Thomas Haden Church have also now joined the cast.
That is who we have so far. Maybe Grant, who recently entered the Wonka-verse, will play a bigger role this time. Part of the fun of this anthology, a little like The White Lotus (also returning at some point... soon?), is guessing who else might join. Should we put bets on young men of the moment, Paul Mescal or Jacob Elordi? Or how about Daniel Kaluuya? I’d personally like to see to some properly funny people in there: let us pray for Da’Vine Joy Randolph. Or her The Idol co-star Rachel Sennott.
What is Knives Out 3 about?
Per Netflix, “Benoit Blanc returns in his most dangerous case yet.” Apart from some casting updates, the only other thing we know is the title, Wake Up Dead Man. Or as the fancy graphics in the announcement say: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. So what has happened in this franchise so far?
In the first movie, he took down a WASPy household – which included a deliciously evil Chris Evans and Jamie Lee Curtis – with the help of nurse Marta (Ana de Armas, in a star-making performance). Then came the 2022 sequel, Glass Onion, in which several terrible people were summoned to a private Greek island owned by an even more terrible person (a Musky billionaire played by Edward Norton). You can read out interview with Craig and Johnson about that sequel here. In that film, we also found out that Blanc is gay and has a partner named Phillip (played by Hugh Grant).
Johnson posted on Twitter, formerly X, about the new film: “I love everything about whodunnits, but one of the things I love most is how malleable the genre is. 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.”
Some detective work of my own: after reading Johnson’s posts, I suspect he wishes that the anthology were called “A Benoit Blanc Mystery”, which would put the proper emphasis on the detective at the centre of it all. He also said that the title “gives a little of where it’s going”. So, Wake Up Dead Man? Blanc is clearly not dead – unless we are really missing a trick – but he could be resting. Even world-famous detectives need a break. What will wake him up? The threat of AI? The climate crisis? A mismatching pastel suit? It really is all to play for.
We also now have our first photos from the set of the film, which is currently being filmed in London. Daniel Craig has curtains and a trench coat. O’Connor is dressed as a priest. While I assume he is actually playing a priest – as his co-star Scott famously did in Fleabag – I would not put it a double bluff past Johnson. We should note that the British actor has already play a man of God: as vicar Philip Elton in Austen adaptation Emma.. Kunis appears to be playing a cop.
What does this reveal about the film? Not that much, to be honest. But it definitely does not put us off. As ever with this series, it is a waiting game.
When is Knives Out 3 out?
So far, the only information we have from the Netflix is that the film is coming in 2025, so you will have to find something else to watch with your family over Christmas and New Year. Maybe Megalopolis?
