‘Knives Out’ Sequels (Yes, Sequels) Are Coming to Netflix

Deadline is reporting that Netflix is close to a deal for not one, but two sequels to Rian Johnson’s hit mystery thriller Knives Out. 

We’ve known that a sequel was in the works, which was unsurprising considering the first film made $311 million worldwide off a $40 million budget when it was released around Thanksgiving in 2019. What’s shocking is the details, with sources saying that the deal for two pictures is in the territory of $400 million, an absolutely staggering figure. 

Netflix is leading the charge, but apparently Apple and Amazon were also part of a hush-hush auction, with the streaming giant still flexing the biggest muscles of them all. 

Casting for the first sequel is underway, with Daniel Craig already long confirmed to return to reprise his role as the heavily accented Benoit Blanc for a new mystery. Shooting will begin June 28th in Greece, which means we should be hearing casting news on who will be joining Craig in the very near future. 

Johnson has already written the sequels to the film, and is clearly eager to get this going, making the sequel his follow-up to the previous film, which co-starred Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Christopher Plummer, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, LaKeith Stanfield, Toni Collette, Don Johnson, Katherine Langford, and Jaeden Martell. While it would be unlikely to expect many of that cast to return, perhaps there’s a chance we could see Stanfield or de Armas back for another go? 

One person we know is returning to the production is Johnson’s producing partner Ram Bergman, who is part of brokering this deal with the filmmaker, as the two shrewdly owned the rights to the series on a picture by picture basis, allowing them to take the franchise away from MRC and Lionsgate, who produced and distributed the first film, and shop it to wherever they could get the best deal. 

Expect more details for this story to drop soon.