2 Attachment(s)
Daniel Craig Says Knives Out 2 is Very Different From Original
No Time to Die star Daniel Craig says that Rian Johnson’s Knives Out 2 is a very different film to the original 2019 whodunnit mystery. Following on from his controversial Star Wars sequel film The Last Jedi, Johnson returned to a concept he had first conceived in 2005 and had originally planned filming after wrapping production on 2012’s Looper. Due to Johnson’s involvement in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, however, he was unable to complete the screenplay until 2017.
Starring Craig as the master private detective Benoit Blanc, the first Knives Out raked in over $311 million at the worldwide box office and was lauded by critics and audiences alike for its clever plot and fresh take on the murder-mystery genre. Placing Craig’s Blanc in the company of other great fictional detectives like Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, Netflix swooped in earlier this year to purchase the rights to two additional sequels in a massive $400 million deal. While the second film is still yet to receive its official title, filming on the sequel officially wrapped in September.
Most recently, Benoit Blanc himself, Craig has spoken to Empire about his tenure as James Bond coming to an end and his continuing future in the role of Johnson’s master detective. Confirming that production on the sequel concluded “literally weeks ago,” Craig says the new film is “very different” from the original, and he’s “very excited about it.” Check out his full comments below:
I'm so lucky to have Rian [Johnson] in my life. He’s such a great writer. That script arrived and I was literally like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ I couldn't believe that he wanted me to play it. I was going, ‘It says Southern accent you went here. Really?’ And he's like, ‘Yeah?’
We've just finished the second one, literally weeks ago. They've just wrapped up in Serbia. Dare I say it’s better? We'll see. I don't want to tempt fate. It's different, and that's the amazing thing. It's still a Benoit Blanc mystery, but it's very different. I'm very excited about it.
Following in the footsteps of Christie’s Poirot, it makes sense that this new film will feature a whole new mystery with another all-star cast all playing potential murder suspects. Featuring the likes of Dave Bautista, Edward Norton, Kate Hudson, Ethan Hawke, Jessica Henwick, Kathryn Hahn, and Madelyn Cline, this latest sequel promises an extremely talented ensemble cast with the star power necessary to rival the original. With a whole new murder to solve, it seems unlikely the Thrombey family from the 2019 film will play any role in the new mystery whatsoever.
Clearly, Craig is not the only one who recognizes Johnson’s strength as a writer and the ongoing potential of Benoit Blanc as a character, with Netflix shelling out the big bucks to bring the sequels directly to its streaming platform. While Craig may not want to “tempt fate” by claiming the new film is better than the original, fans are still excited to see what twisted homicide awaits his brilliant southern detective. While there is still no official release date for Knives Out 2, it is expected to hit Netflix sometime in 2022.
