The second Knives Out movie, Glass Onion hit Netflix in December 2022. Now, news has started to come out about a third Knives Out, featuring Daniel Craig's Benoit Blanc once more.
When the WGA strike, Johnson gave an update on the status of the third film, saying, "It’s coming along. I obviously couldn’t work during the strike, and now that it’s over, I’m driving 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." In January 2024, Deadline reported that T-Street, Johnson's production company, "is gearing up to make the third installment of the Benoit Blanc franchise for Netflix later this year."
Here's everything we know so far about the as-yet-untitled Knives Out 3, also known as the third Benoit Blanc whodunnit:
Rian Johnson wants to emulate Agatha Christie.
Rian Johnson, who wrote and directed Knives Out and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, will also write and direct the third film.
"I’ve never really been interested in doing sequels, but this, the idea of doing more of these with Daniel as his character, is not sequels," Johnson explained to Uproxx. “It’s just what Agatha Christie did. It’s just coming up with a whole new mystery, a whole new location, all new cast, whole new mechanics of the appeal of a mystery and everything. It’d be a blast."
After the Thanksgiving premiere of the second film, Johnson shared he's ready to begin work on the third. "It’s interesting," he told Deadline. "We structured the [Netflix deal] so that if I wanted to do something else next, I could. And I think everybody assumed I’d have a couple other random ideas — unrelated projects — that I’ve been kicking around. But, honestly, over the past couple of months, the most exciting creative thing to me right now is that third movie. And so, I think I’m going to hop right into it. Not because of a contractual obligation, but, genuinely, that’s the shiny object I find my nose pointed toward right now. [It’s] the idea of figuring out how it can be completely different from this one as well as the first one.”
Knives Out 3 could dive into Benoit Blanc's sexuality.
In press for Glass Onion, Johnson teased that the third film would dive into Blanc's queerness, saying he's "sure it'll come into play" because it's a big part of his character.
"If you watch the movie, I think it’s made explicit. In terms of exploring it, I mean, maybe, but with these movies, I mean, they’re not really about the detective’s sexuality. [But] it’s baked into the genre a little bit [when] the detective is kind of set outside the realm of the human drama that’s going on with the rest of the suspects, so I’m sure it’ll come into play because it’s a big part of who he is, obviously. It’s just a fact about his character."
There will likely be an entirely new cast.
Just as the cast and mystery (with the exception of Daniel Craig's Blanc) completely changed in Glass Onion, the third Knives Out will almost definitely feature an entirely new cast and no continuous mystery.
"If each one of these can really be what Agatha Christie did, if it can be not just in a totally new location and a new cast, but also trying something exciting, I'll keep doing it as long as Daniel and I are having a good time. I'll keep making these as long as they let me," Johnson told Variety.
There's no title or premiere date yet.
Yet, we know it will premiere on Netflix; the streamer acquired the rights to Knives Out 2 and Knives Out 3 in a $450 million deal in March 2021. In January 2023, Ori Marmur, who co-runs Netflix's original studio film group, told Variety "Rian Johnson is already working on the third one, but there’s no set time table. We’d love to have it sooner rather than later given the response to the last one."
We'll update this post as soon as we learn more.
Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals, and a range of other subjects. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram.
