A least one mystery is easily solved.
When Knives Out landed in theaters in November 2019, it was regarded as a quirky oddity. This film was neither in the land of blockbuster superhero sequels and Oscar-bait films vying for awards. It was an old-fashioned murder mystery with an eccentric detective and a room full of suspects. But audiences loved it, and by the close of 2019, the movie had become the year’s surprise hit. So, when is Knives Out 2 coming? And what’s it about?
The sheer popularity of the first Knives Out film brought in $165 million domestically, and in February 2020, Lionsgate was quick to confirm a second film was on the way. But perhaps that confirmation came too quickly. On March 31, 2021, things changed when Netflix announced it had purchased the rights to Knives Out from producers Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman. Moreover, Netflix revealed it would make not one but two sequels. The blockbuster deal confirmed Johnson would return as writer and director, and Daniel Craig would also reprise his role as the Hercule Poirot-like Detective Benoit Blanc. It also turned the nascent film franchise into an all-but-guaranteed streaming hit.
With Knives Out 2 on the way, things are ramping up. Here’s everything known so far about the project:
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Release Date
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery premiered at TIFF on Sept. 10, 2022, and then had its red carpet premiere at the London Film Festival a month later. The film will open in select theaters one month before it arrives on Netflix, on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022, and will run for just one week in theaters before disappearing again. Tickets to this sneak preview are on sale at most local ticket retailers.
Glass Onion will then arrive on Netflix for everyone to stream just in time for the holiday break, on Dec. 23, 2022.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Sneak Peek
On Sept. 24, Netflix released a sneak peek at the new movie that showed off the titular glass onion. In the clip, Lionel (Leslie Odom Jr.), Duke (Dave Bautista), Birdie (Kate Hudson), and Claire (Kathryn Hahn) all successful solve an intricate puzzle sent to them by tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton). The prize? A large glass onion, and an invitation to board Bron’s yacht and solve the mystery of his murder.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Teaser
The official teaser for this movie is an absolute feast. Eight passengers are trapped on an island, and one, it appears, is a murderer. It looks a little like Agatha Christie’s, And Then There Were None, and if it turns out to be similar, fans can be assured of multiple fatalities coming this holiday season.
Some of the details should make fans should sit up and take notice. For example, this is not a family affair, unlike the first Knives Out. There are eight passengers aboard this ship, and it’s not immediately clear who knows who. And the boat is merely a transport — it’s not like Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile. The group heads to an island, and a fancy house, where they have no escape.
Previously, the first mini teaser for the Knives Out sequel arrived on June 13, 2022. Although it contained no footage of the new film, it did confirm the sequel’s title, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Cast
As previously noted, Daniel Craig’s Detective Benoit Blanc and his Foghorn Leghorn accent are set to return for both films. Also, as confirmed at the London Film Festival, viewers will catch a glimpse of his boyfriend, who is apparently as secret A-list cameo.
But the movie’s greatness came from the ensemble cast that surrounded him, with luminaries like Don Johnson, Jamie Lee Curtis, and the late Christopher Plummer. It also starred Marvel hero Chris Evans in a sweater, which became one of the film’s iconic images.
But with each successive film being a completely new case, that means only Craig will probably return. But not to worry about the new ensemble. Knives Out 2 is already finding new Marvel stars to help fill the roster. On May 10, 2021, Guardians of the Galaxy’s Dave Bautista was the first significant name to join the new cast in an as-yet-undisclosed role. It is a re-team for Bautista and Craig, who were last seen together in the James Bond movie Spectre. There’s no word yet about what sort of knitwear Bautista’s character wears, but fans know he’s got an oversized sweater to fill.
And there’s at least one more sweater-worthy former Marvel star on the roster. On May 11, Deadline followed up with the reveal that Edward Norton is also joining the cast.
But wait, there’s more! Janelle Monae is also joining the party, according to Variety. The Hollywood Reporter also added Leslie Odom Jr. to the list of cast members joining the film. And in actors from one Netflix project shifting to another, actor Madelyn Cline of Outer Banks fame also signed on to be part of the ensemble.
And just when fans thought the cast couldn’t top that, Deadline reported Kathryn Hahn was also joining the crew. (I don’t know about you, but if Daniel Craig doesn’t break into “Agatha All Along,” I will be highly disappointed.) Deadline also reported Kate Hudson will be joining the cast as well. It will be a reunion of sorts for her and Hahn, who played BFFs back in the day in How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days. Perhaps this will be How To Murder Someone In 10 Days? It depends on which of these cast members plays the one who turns up dead.
Finally, on June 15, 2021, Netflix revealed yet another franchise player as part of the new film: Jessica Henwick, who is known on HBO for Game of Thrones, Netflix for Iron Fist, and on the big screen in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. According to Deadline, the actor (who is also the new lead in The Matrix 4) “rounds out” the cast for the film, suggesting that perhaps there are limits in stuffing all of Hollywood into one two-hour mystery.
Since then, a few spoiler-free reviews have revealed a couple of surprises, including cameos by Ethan Hawke, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jackie Hoffman, and the late Stephen Sondheim in his last on-screen appearance.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Plot
The main thing viewers know about the new Knives Out films is they won’t be bringing back the Thrombeys and the Drysdales. Like any good old-school murder mystery series, each movie will have a standalone case featuring a brand-new, high-profile ensemble. Considering the Glass Onion cast is stacked, it’s doubtful anyone will miss the characters from the first film.
Here’s the logline for Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which, TBH, doesn’t give much away: “In the follow-up to Rian Johnson’s Knives Out, Detective Benoit Blanc travels to Greece to peel back the layers of a mystery involving a new cast of colorful suspects.”
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Characters
Though the plot is still being kept under wraps, Glass Onion’s debut at the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022, does mean fans know who the characters are and who plays who. Here’s a rundown.
- Edward Norton plays Miles Bron: A tech billionaire
- Leslie Odom Jr. is Lionel Toussaint: A scientist who works for Miles
- Janelle Monáe plays Cassandra “Andi” Brand: Miles’ ex-business partner
- Kathryn Hahn is Claire Debella: A Connecticut governor running for Senate
- Dave Bautista plays Duke Cody: A YouTube star and men’s rights activist
- Madelyn Cline is Whiskey: Duke’s girlfriend and assistant
- Kate Hudson is Birdie Jay: A supermodel turned fashion designer
- Jessica Henwick is Peg: Birdie’s assistant
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Photos
Netflix released a first look at the upcoming murder mystery on Aug. 22, 2022, and more photos when the trailer arrived, including this one of Daniel Craig in his Beniot Blanc attire.
Another shot shows Janelle Monáe sneaking down a corridor or perhaps hiding from a murderer.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Filming
Along with the announcement that two sequels were underway, Netflix revealed filming was slated to start at the end of June 2021 in Greece. Director Rian Johnson celebrated the beginning of filming with a tweet, thanking the local population for letting him do “all this murdering” on their shores.
“All this murdering?” Could Knives Out 2 have... multiple victims?
Leslie Odom Jr. hinted the sequel would be bigger and better than the first film. “‘Suspect everyone’ is what I can tell you. It’s going to be fun,” he said to ET. “I think that the first movie... the success was unexpected, the Oscar nomination certainly, and people really took to it. So we want to up the ante and deliver something exciting and surprising for the fans.”
Filming went quickly on the six-week shoot, wrapping at the end of July 2021.
The original Knives Out film is streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Glass Onion will arrive on streaming in December 2022. Knives Out 3 does not yet have a release date.
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