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Rian Johnson Explains Dislike for Glass Onion’s Subtitle
When it comes to Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out” sequel Glass Onion, the director has one bone to pick with the movie’s official title, “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.” Speaking to The Atlantic following the film’s Dec. 23 streaming debut on Netflix, Johnson expressed frustration over having to add “A Knives Out Mystery” to the film’s title for marketing purposes.
“I’ve tried hard to make them self-contained,” Johnson said about his “Knives Out” films, the only overlap between the 2019 original and its 2022 sequel being Daniel Craig’s detective character. “Honestly, I’m pissed off that we have ‘A Knives Out Mystery’ in the title. You know? I want it to just be called ‘Glass Onion.'”
“I get it, and I want everyone who liked the first movie to know this is next in the series, but also, the whole appeal to me is it’s a new novel off the shelf every time,” Johnson added. “But there’s a gravity of a thousand suns toward serialized storytelling.”
Glass Onion has remained in the top most watched chart at Netflix since it's streaming debut, which features an entirely new mystery and ensemble of suspects, including Dave Bautista, Janelle Monae, Kathryn Hahn, Kate Hudson, Jessica Henwick and Edward Norton, among others. Johnson said that he loves endings so much that he didn’t want the “Knives Out” name to live on after the end of the 2019 original, which nabbed Johnson an Oscar nomination for original screenplay.
Rian Johnson and Daniel Craig have already signed a deal to develop a third “Knives Out” movie for Netflix. Suffice to say that “A Knives Out Mystery” will probably remain in the third film’s title even though it’s not Johnson’s preference. The writer-director told Variety earlier this year that he won’t put a cap on the number of “Knives Out” films he can make as long as each entry in the franchise can remain a standalone story.
“If each one of these can really be what Agatha Christie did, if it can be not just in a totally new location and a new cast, but also trying something exciting, I’ll keep doing it as long as Daniel [Craig] and I are having a good time,” Johnson said. “I’ll keep making these as long as they let me.”
Glass Onion is now streaming on Netflix. The sequel follows Daniel Craig’s Detective Benoit Blanc as he travels to Greece to peel back the layers of a mystery involving a new cast of colorful suspects.
