Two Knives Out sequels are officially going ahead with Netflix, Deadline has reported. The $450million deal is one of the largest for the streaming service. The first film followed the dysfunctional Thrombey family as they become suspects in a clever ‘whodunnit’. Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) was at the helm, solving the mystery.
The screenplay earned director Rian Johnson an Academy Award nomination and the film was praised for being “ingeniously plotted” (David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter). It was also a box office success, earning over $300million against its $40million budget.
Rumours of sequels began circling before Knives Out was ever released when Johnson admitted that he’s keen to turn the film into a franchise, following Blanc on various cases. This has now become a reality as filming for the first sequel will begin in Greece later in the year, with Johnson directing. Casting is currently underway.
Can we expect any of the original cast to return?
Daniel Craig will reprise his role as Blanc, but as for any of the Thrombey’s, it’s not on the cards. Jamie Lee Curtis, who played Linda Thrombey, took to Instagram to react to the news with a farewell to her character:
“To clear up any rumors, the Thromby family is in family counseling and the therapist suggested they stay away from Benoit Blanc in the future. Linda was fine as she kicked her loafer wearing prick of a husband, sorry @donjohnson to the curb. The rest of them are hustling. Ransom is apparently in the knitting sweater business, a new skill he picked up in the slammer. Joni has some vaginal scented bath bomb, Walt is self publishing his memoir. NONE of us will be joining Mr. Blanc in Greece. As the family spokesperson we wish the filmmakers all our best in their new venture.”
The characters left a tremendous impression on the audience. Even the marketing for the film focused on exposing who each of the Thrombeys was. Lionsgate went as far as to create real websites for the businesses the characters owned, such as Joni’s Flam lifestyle brand, Linda’s real estate venture and Walt’s publishing house. Based on that, the sequels will likely feature an equally star-studded cast to reinforce the importance that the characters hold in a murder mystery of this nature.
Accordingly, the Knives Out Twitter account had a humorous reaction to the news.
https://twitter.com/KnivesOut/status/1377375524394176515?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Olivia Gacka
Featured image Jake Hills via Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to the image.
Olivia Gacka
Olivia is a freelance writer and content creator. She is currently heading ThatFictionLife across all platforms, specialising in entertainment reporting, interviewing talent, book discussions and television commentary. At present, she is also a Brand Ambassador for Bonnier Books UK, working on book campaigns.