Rian Johnson is starting to tease Knives Out 2. Lionsgate officially announced that the sequel has been green lit last week and now everybody wants to know more about it. Daniel Craig is expected to return as Detective Benoit Blanc, but that is all that is really clear at this point. Johnson has already joked that he wants to take the sequel to space, which could use some of his research from The Last Jedi to get there.
No, Knives Out 2 is not going to space. Rian Johnson was only kidding. However, in a new interview he states that it will revolve around a new cast and a new mystery. There will be a new setting, but it won’t be space. Johnson also is really leaning into his Agatha Christie inspirations and is even looking deeper into subgenres. He then went on to bring up And Then There Were None, noting that it’s like a slasher and then talked about The ABC Murders being more like a serial killer story.
Basically, Knives Out 2 is not going to take the same template from the first installment. Rian Johnson is looking to do something new, which should be very interesting, especially if Daniel Craig is back on board. Both the director and the actor have had nothing but praise for each other since Knives Out was released. They have both said repeatedly that they would love to work together again, so the sequel could be the first place for that to happen. Johnson is currently mulling over ideas for a screenplay.
Rian Johnson also spoke about how the mystery aspect of Knives Out wasn’t really the point of the movie. In the director’s eyes, it all lands on Ana de Armas’ Marta character and her story, which is easy to see while watching the movie. However, the mystery of Knives Out was part of the fun and that is something that Johnson is not going to lose sight of when crafting the sequel. It will just be a bit different this time around, which should keep things fresh and keep audiences wanting to come back to what Johnson has to offer.
Knives Out is up for the Best Original Screenplay Academy Award, which is Rian Johnson’s first nomination. The movie was a surprise hit with critics and audiences, though it didn’t really lend itself to a sequel in a traditional sense. Instead, Johnson will hopefully be able to bring back Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc and feature him solving new mysteries, possibly much darker than what we have seen thus far, or maybe even lighter than we have seen so far. Rian Johnson can basically do whatever he wants at this time and that has to be a good feeling. You can check out the interview with Johnson below, thanks to the SiriusXM YouTube channel.
