Title Of Third Benoit Blanc Mystery Officially Revealed By Director Rian Johnson
"Knives Out" was an anomaly. The 2019 film was a mid-budget movie with a fantastic cast of recognizable names that nevertheless did not bank on one specific A-lister, became a huge hit with audiences and critics alike, and became a franchise organically rather than planning sequels before the first even debuted. Of course, it helps that the film had a compelling and simple premise, a great comedic tone, a director with a clear vision, and delightful characters, including the once-in-a-decade great Benoit Blanc.
Rian Johnson's murder mysteries take inspiration from Agatha Christie novels, "Columbo," and even underseen 1970s murder mysteries to deliver compelling stories that — much like Christie's work — use archetypal characters to comment on issues of today. After looking at Radiohead for inspiration for the first movie's title and The Beatles for inspiration for the title of "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery," Johnson is rounding out this trilogy by looking at U2. That's right, the next Benoit Blanc mystery has a title, and it is "Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery," and Daniel Craig is back to voice the little title announcement. The film is set to be released in 2025.
Benoit Blanc returns for a new mystery
"I love everything about whodunnits, but one of the things I love most is how malleable the genre is," Johnson tweeted. "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." The filmmaker also announced that they are about to go into production, and teased that once again, the title is probably going to be extremely literal and thematically resonant. "I'm very, very excited to share the title, which gives a little hint of where it's going."
Benoit Blanc is one of the best movie characters in years, mostly thanks to Daniel Craig's performance, which is funny without being a parody and suave while still being a bit silly. We have no idea what the movie will be about, but it is safe to assume there will be a dead man and a murder. (For my money, the funniest implication of the title would obviously involve Noah Segan's Derol character getting buried alive somewhere, clawing his way out, then calling Blanc to explain that he thought he woke up dead.)
More importantly than the plot, the big question mark is the cast. The "Knives Out" movies are actually more about the supporting cast than Benoit Blanc, so who will join him this time? Expect official casting announcements soon, but one thing is for sure: If this is anything like the other two, the cast will be packed with very recognizable names.