"Knives Out 3" will reunite us with Daniel Craig's Southern super-sleuth for what's sure to be a thrilling third mystery... and we just got a big progress update about the threequel!
Officially titled "Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery", this is the second of two sequels to Rian Johnson's 2019 murder mystery ordered by Netflix. We're big fans of the franchise at Tom's Guide: In our "Glass Onion" review, we called the previous installment "one of the best Netflix movies ever," so it should come as no surprise that we're looking forward to the next chapter, too.
News about "Knives Out: Wake Up Dead Man" has been pretty hard to come by, unfortunately, and we've not heard much about it for a little while. Our last major update came when when Rian Johnson revealed filming had wrapped back in August.
Here's everything we know so far about "Knives Out 3."
'Knives Out 3' release date window
As of our latest update, we only know that "Knives Out 3" will be coming to Netflix at some point in 2025, as confirmed in the recent title announcement video.
The preceding movie, "Glass Onion," did enjoy a brief theatrical run before it was made available to stream at home, and it's possible that "Wake Up Dead Man" could follow this pattern. One of its stars certainly hopes so!
However, Daniel Craig has made headlines after calling on Netflix to give "Knives Out 3" a big theatrical run. In a November interview with Variety, Craig argued that the movie deserved a full theatrical run.
"You know I do", he said, when asked if the movie should be there longer than one week. "Hopefully, Netflix will push it a bit, and people will get to see it. The people I speak to — the fans, I suppose — all they want to do is take their families and go see it at the cinemas. That's all they want to do. Hopefully, we can give them that experience".
Whether the streamer follows through on his request remains to be seen. In the meantime, check out our list of the 7 best movies like "Knives Out" and "Glass Onion" for more streaming recommendations to keep you entertained while we wait for news of the "Knives Out 3" release date.
Production on the movie officially began on June 10, as confirmed by Rian Johnson. Alongside this announcement, we also got our very first look at Daniel Craig in costume as Benoit Blanc. This stylish shot shows Benoit Blanc will be sporting a new look; check out that hair!
Thanks to another post on social media, we now know that filming on the project has wrapped. Rian Johnson confirmed the news on Instagram, with a black-and-white snap of a sign in a graveyard and a short comment that reads: "Aaaaaand that’s a wrap on "Wake Up Dead Man".
"Thank you to the best crew in the world and the most brilliant cast. This shoot was a VERY special experience, I cannot wait to put this thing together and show you all what we’ve got."
'Knives Out 3' cast: Who will star in 'Wake Up Dead Man'?
The last two "Knives Out" movies have boasted some truly killer ensembles, and it looks like "Knives Out 3" will be no different.
Naturally, you can't have a new "Knives Out" mystery without Benoit Blanc, and we already know that former 007 Daniel Craig will be back in action to solve the next murder, whoever the target[s] may be.
Since the movie's title was revealed, there was a steady stream of casting announcements that confirmed Craig will be joined by another set of stars. The new "Knives Out" ensemble already includes a number of big names, including "Dune Part 2" star Josh Brolin, screen legend Glenn Close, "Challengers" actor Josh O'Connor and many more. The downside? We don't know anything about the characters any of them are playing.
Here's the confirmed "Knives Out 3" cast list so far.
- Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc
- Josh Brolin
- Thomas Haden Church (as reported by The Wrap)
- Glenn Close
- Josh O'Connor
- Mila Kunis
- Daryl McCormack
- Jeremy Renner
- Andrew Scott
- Cailee Spaeny
- Kerry Washington
One actor we know won't be appearing in the movie is "Venom: The Last Dance" star, Tom Hardy. Although there were rumors that claimed he'd joined the cast earlier in the year, Hardy put them to bed while speaking to ET Online.
"Nobody's called me about this", Hardy said. "This came out in the Google machine this morning, even I was like, 'What's this?' Someone's gotta ask me. Sounds cool, but no one' asked me. That's showbiz, right? Maybe I am in it!"
'Knives Out 3' plot
Given the "Knives Out" movies have all been murder-mystery movies, we know precious little about the plot, and that doesn't seem likely to change anytime soon.
All we really know at the time of writing comes from the title announcement video (embedded below), wherein Craig's master detective proclaims this new investigation "my most dangerous case yet." Could that mean the body count will be higher this time around? Or maybe Benoit Blanc himself will be in harm's way?
Whatever happens in "Knives Out 3", director Rian Johnson has hinted this third 'whodunnit' will feel a bit different from its predecessors, which again makes us think this threequel could well end up being a bit darker. On Twitter (X), he stated that getting to explore the genre's 'tonal spectrum' is, in his words, 'one of the most exciting things about making Benoit Blanc movies'
Is there a 'Knives Out 3' trailer yet?
Not yet! So far, all we've seen in the trailer department for "Knives Out 3" is the title announcement video, which revealed that Benoit Blanc's third case would officially be known as "Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery".
Will there be more 'Knives Out' movies?
Netflix only ordered two sequels, but it's clear that Johnson and Craig are keen to make more "Knives Out" sequels.
Before the release of "Glass Onion", Daniel Craig told Variety that he'd happily keep coming back as Benoit Blanc.
"If he keeps writing them, I'll keep doing them", Craig said at the time, gesturing to Rian Johnson. "That's what makes it easy then, he's such a wonderful writer that it's there on the page for me to do."
Luckily, Johnson feels the same: speaking at the sequel's premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, the director said: "I'm going to keep making these until Daniel [Craig] blocks me on his phone".
In short, as long as Rian Johnson's got another idea, it's certainly sounding like we'll get another Benoit Blanc mystery after "Knives Out 3". Watch this space.
