Rian Johnson Calls KNIVES OUT 3 "The Most Interesting Creative Challenge" of His Career

Director Rian Johnson made a splash with his fun and successful star-studded 2019 murder mystery, Knives Out, and Netflix promptly signed him on to make a couple of sequels to the film at the streamer. We are just about to see the second film in the franchise, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, and Johnson is already working out the third movie, which is proving to be a bit of a challenge.

In a recent interview with Total Film, Johnson talked about the third movie, which is already in development:

"I had for a while thought that maybe I should do something else first. But the God’s honest truth is, I had so much fun making this one, and the creative challenge of figuring out a third movie that’s completely different from both this one and the first one – right now, that’s the most interesting creative challenge to me. So I might just dive in and see what we come up with."

Daniel Craig, who plays Detective Benoit Blanc in the films, said, "It might be [the next thing I do]. I don’t know. It depends on how quick [Johnson] is." And, if Johnson has his way, the Knives Out series might not stop at three films. He said of himself and Craig, the only recurring cast member:

"As long as the two of us are still having fun, and as long as we can continue to make these truly new experiences each time, and find new ways to challenge ourselves... The second we feel like we’re repeating ourselves, or just turning a crank on a machine, we’ll stop. Because to me, the whole conception of this whole series is the same way Agatha Christie did it with her books – we’re doing something new and surprising every time."

It really must be difficult to think up new murder mysteries that are just as compelling and character driven as the first one. I am a fan of what I’ve seen so far, and I’m excited to see the second movie, the third, and whatever comes next!

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery opens in select cinemas on November 23rd for one week, then streams on Netflix starting on December 23rd.