Rian Johnson’s Knives Out was that rare thing: a non-franchise film, based on a wholly original idea (albeit inspired by Agatha Christie), that still cleaned up at the box office. It’s been raking in the bucks ever since its Thanksgiving bow; its domestic gross is currently shy a mere $10 million shy that of the year’s other big non-series blockbuster, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
But if any movie was to birth a franchise, it’s a mystery centered on a sleuth. And so it shall be: The Hollywood Reporter reports that they caught up with Johnson at the Golden Globe pre-show party — where Knives Out is nominated for three trophies, including Best Picture (Comedy or Musical) — where he gave them the following scoop: He’s planning on a sequel, following Daniel Craig’s amateur sleuth Benoit Blanc on another fatal brain-teaser.
Johnson told THR he was already mid-development on the sequel, so eager to get back to the world of Blanc that his hopes were to make it quickly, within the next year. Last week a fan tweeted that Craig, who rocked a delightful Foghorn Leghorn-esque Southern accent, should, in each sequel, adopt “a totally different accent, which is never explained.” Johnson responded by saying he’d already considered that.
Ok I’m going to be very honest right now – I’ve had that thought
— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) December 30, 2019
Knives Out, which has been a box office Top 10 fixture since it bowed over Thanksgiving, was Johnson cashing in his chips from his previous film, The Last Jedi. Meanwhile the follow-up to that film, The Rise of Skywalker, has dominated the box office since it opened just before the holidays.
(Via THR)
