This December, Rian Johnson and Daniel Craig will be joined by another huge ensemble cast for Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery – otherwise known as Knives Out 3. Just like previous installments of one of the most creative and engaging murder mystery franchises in decades, Wake Up Dead Man will debut on Netflix, and is expected to be another viewership winner in the run-up to Christmas. Now, Johnson has teased a little more about what fans can expect from their next Benoit Blanc mystery.
A brief look at Wake Up Dead Man was revealed earlier this year, but on the whole, there is still very little known about what the story of the movie will be, and how it will continue the franchise’s trend of delivering several twists that leave audiences wanting to rewatch the movie straight away to see if what they thought happened, really did happen or not. According to Johnson, when he spoke to Empire Magazine about the movie, this time around Blanc will be in a much different place to his first two mysteries.
“[Father Jud] ends up partnering with Blanc on solving this mystery; it’s very much [Jud’s] journey. [Blanc] has the biggest personal journey in this one. Benoit has to engage with [the mystery] in a different way. He’s in a very different place than in the previous two films. Daniel and I had a lot of fun thinking about where Blanc is at in his life. And I think he’s going through some s—!
“…Blanc is seeing it as, ‘It’s just a murder, I can solve this.’ The way the murder presents itself is the opposite of that. It’s framed as an impossible thing that could never have happened, almost miraculous in nature. And Blanc, as the rationalist, is coming in to do what he does, and prove that wrong.”
‘Wake Up Dead Man’ Can Secure the ‘Knives Out’ Franchise’s Future
Just like Knives Out and Glass Onion, Wake Up Dead Man brings with it the kind of cast that most directors would die to have working on their movie. The cast of Knives Out 3 includes Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Church.
The biggest question for fans is what happens after Wake Up Dead Man? Following the success of Knives Out, Johnson was giving the green light for two more Benoit Blanc mysteries, but could there be more to come from Daniel Craig’s enigmatic detective? While promoting his crime series Poker Face, Johnson told Rolling Stone:
“I feel great! Because I have genuinely taken a swing each time that I didn’t think would work. Ultimately, that’s the thing you’re trying to avoid. The second you feel like you know how to do this, that leads nowhere good. So I feel fantastic. And with the movies, we can keep doing that. I don’t have something in my head right now. You kind of burn the ship into the sea each time and ask yourself, ‘How will I make anything ever again?’ But I would keep doing them as long as I can.”
