Knives Out casting announcement season is the closest thing film fans have to a sports draft.
Every time a new movie in the Rian Johnson franchise comes out, fans carefully curate what their perfect line-up for the next one looks like, and more often than not their dreams come true to some degree. We can only imagine the power rush Johnson must feel as he picks and chooses which superstar he wants to play which character.
The third movie follows 2019’s Knives Out, and 2022’s Glass Onion, and although it hasn’t entered production just yet, it’s already shaping up to be a contender for best in the series.
What is the third Knives Out film called?
On May 24, Netflix and Rian Johnson announced the third movie in the Knives Out series is titled Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery with a Daniel Craig-narrated thrilling clip that teases Benoit Blanc’s next case as “his most dangerous yet.”
The 50-year-old director then took to X to elaborate a little further on what fans can expect of the new highly mysterious and highly-anticipated film, whose plot is still under wraps. Johnson teased a tonal shift, saying his favorite thing about the whodunnit genre is how malleable it 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.”
Johnson also mentioned the title is a hint of where the third Knives Out outing is headed. Are we in for a ghostly horror-influenced mystery in the vein of Kenneth Branaugh’s latest Poirot adventure, A Haunting in Venice?
Who stars in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery?
Now for the most exciting bit of Knives Out info. The cast for Daniel Craig’s third run as the Southern-drawled private detective is now mostly complete and despite the excitement for some of the stars, others are not being as well received.
Challengers and The Crown‘s Josh O’Connor and Priscilla and Civil War‘s Cailee Spaeny were the first cast members to be announced in undisclosed roles. The two are experiencing career-high popularity at the moment, following their breakthrough blockbuster roles, despite being in the industry for over a decade.
Another superstar whose flowers have been long overdue is Andrew Scott. The Irish actor is joining the Knives Out roster in a role everyone is hoping will be antagonistic. Fans who have followed the 47-year-old’s career for years are praying this will be an opportunity to channel the energy of a previous job on another major whodunnit series, BBC Sherlock‘s Moriarty. Scott has been one of Hollywood’s most eligible bachelors since playing the Hot Priest in Fleabag in 2018.
Scandal‘s Kerry Washington is also joining the fun. Wake Up Dead Man isn’t the only upcoming Netflix collaboration for the Emmy-winning actress who is also starring in Tyler Perry’s World War II drama Six Triple Eight for the streamer.
News of the casting of 8 times Oscar nominated acting legend Glenn Close and Good Luck, Leo Grande‘s Daryl McCormack were also received with excitement, but the fun ended when Marvel’s Jeremy Renner and Black Swan‘s Mila Kunis were confirmed to be joining the film as well. The two actors have been wrapped in controversies over the past few years, making them unpopular with a big chunk of Knives Out‘s audience.
When is Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery coming out?
Netflix has given Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery a 2025 release window as Johnson confirmed the film will enter production any day now (What’s On Netflix reported June 10th as a possible shooting kick-off date). It will come out nearly three years after Glass Onion, which itself came out three years after the first Knives Out film.
If Wake Up Dead Man follows the release strategy of its middle sibling (which we hope it will), it could enjoy a limited theatrical release before finally arriving on the TUDUM streaming platform. For reference, both previous films premiered later in the year between September and December, so we’re predicting a similar release date for the third one.
Following a Lionsgate distribution for the first film, Johnson sold the rights to two future installments in the Knives Out franchise to Netflix for $469 million (news on a fourth film has not been made public). The 2019 film grossed an impressive $312.9 million at the global box office, per Box Office Mojo. Glass Onion’s one-week theater run only amounted to $13.3 million, but the film went on to be watched 68.70 million times on Netflix up until 2023.
