Rian Johnson’s “Wake Up Dead Man,” the third film in the “Knives Out” detective series starring Daniel Craig, just arrived on Netflix on December 12. However, the director already has thoughts on the next installment in the franchise. Johnson told Entertainment Weekly, “I have some basic, basic conceptual ideas. Like, ‘Okay, it would be interesting if it was that kind of thing.'”
The director continued, “I don’t have any concrete ideas. I don’t have a theme yet. I don’t have a location. It’s really quite vague, and I feel like it’s good to keep it a little vague until I’m ready to sit down and write it.”
In the meantime, Johnson hopes to direct at least one original film before returning to “Knives Out” for another story of Craig’s majestic Southern detective, Benoit Blanc. He says that the “Knives Out” films are all meant to be products of their times and, therefore, the complex plots and themes surrounding them cannot be rushed.
“For me, part of making these films is responding to the present moment, not necessarily based on current events or politics or culture in particular, but based on what we’re all feeling in the world at that moment,” Johnson said. “I like the fact that these films aren’t timeless per se and that they all have a foot in something that’s common to all of us in the present moment. So, yeah, I don’t know. I have a vague idea, but I’m trying to keep it vague until it’s time to do it.”
Johnson began the “Knives Out” series in 2019, with Lionsgate releasing the first film in theaters. Netflix then acquired the rights to two sequels to the original and released the second installment, “Glass Onion,” in 2022. “Wake Up Dead Man” made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and was released in select theaters on November 26.
