Rian Johnson Wants A Knives Out Crossover With A Major Horror Franchise
Rian Johnson had a fantastic idea for Knives Out, potentially crossing it over with an iconic and long-running horror franchise.
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Rian Johnson apparently has a pretty forward-thinking and creative idea for mashing Knives Out with another popular, and frankly, iconic franchise. The director took to Twitter to pitch the idea which would have Detective Benoit Blanc head to a little town of Woodsboro, California which has had its share of murders over the many years. That’s right, Johnson is suggesting that Knives Out crossover with Scream to offer up what would be a fantastic mash-up. Is it likely to happen? Of course not, but these days you really can’t rule anything out when it comes to movie studios trying to get creative.
On Twitter, Rian Johnson simply threw out the idea of putting Daniel Craig as Knives Out’s Benoit Blanc in the same vicinity as Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott. Would he be the one to finally get to the bottom of just why so many people in Woodsboro are intent on donning the Ghostface mask and slashing their fellow town mates to death in an increasingly bloody and silly fashion? If anyone could do it, Blanc sure does seem like the guy. Check out Rian Johnson’s pitch:
Look, this is just having a little fun on the part of the director. But there’s no doubt that Johnson is on the verge of building something really special with the Knives Out franchise. The first film came out back in 2019 and was an instant and a somewhat surprising hit. With a who’s-who ensemble cast, the film centered on Benoit Blanc working to solve the mysterious death in a wealthy family. In addition to Daniel Craig, the film also included Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Michael Shannon, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, and others. It was a major hit at the box office, scoring $311 million on its $40 million budget, and rocked with critics as well, sitting at 97% on Rotten Tomatoes.
And the movie was so successful that Netflix ponied up major dollars to bring two more Knives Out flicks in the franchise to the streamer. It has been reported that they paid roughly $470 million dollars to have the exclusive rights to the budding franchise and the first sequel should hit the streamer this year. There is no reported release date yet, but filming wrapped up back in September. Only Daniel Craig will return from the original, having been put on the case of a different mystery. Others in Knives Out 2 cast include Dave Bautista, Edward Norton, Kathryn Hahn, Ethan Hawke, Jessica Henwick, and Kate Hudson.
Meanwhile, while it’s unlikely to ever cross over with Knives Out, Scream is coming off a successful revival of the franchise with the fifth movie hitting screens on January 14th. More than a decade after the last installment, this one put us back in familiar territory with Ghostface once again terrorizing Sidney and company. It scored well with critics, scoring 78% on Rotten Tomatoes, and returned a tidy profit already with $108 million and counting on the $24 million budget. A sequel, Scream 6 has already been announced. Heck, maybe Benoit Blanc and others from Knives Out will actually show up on the scene.
