Glass Onion May Be The Last Knives Out Movie
Director Rian Johnson hates the Knives Out subtitle and hopes to replace it with A Benoit Blanc Mystery from now on.
The puzzle of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery may be solved, but the enigma of its upcoming sequel remains. According to a report by Deadline, the third murder mystery film from writer/director Rian Johnson may not include “Knives Out” in its title; Johnson would prefer to see the third film be subtitled “A Benoit Blanc Mystery.”
Rian Johnson famously resents Glass Onion having “Knives Out” in its name, but understands why it had to be that way. Johnson told The Filmcast, “[A]fter the first movie, I think people knew that they liked Knives Out [but] they didn’t necessarily know it well enough to know who Benoit Blanc was. I think that would’ve gotten blank stares. And I wanted everyone who loved Knives Out to know that [Glass Onion] is the next one of those.”
Benoit Blanc is the world-renowned detective, played by Daniel Craig, who was introduced to audiences in Johnson’s 2019 film Knives Out, and is the only character to carry over from that film into Glass Onion. Presumably, Blanc will again be the only returning character in the third film. After the success of Glass Onion, Johnson wonders if the name of Benoit Blanc would be enough to capture the audience’s attention.
“[W]ith the reach of Netflix and just how many more people I feel like have seen it and how much more it feels like it’s actually in the culture, we’re at least getting closer to being able to get away with ‘A Benoit Blanc Mystery’ and people would know what we’re talking about,” Johnson said. The choice will come down to Netflix, who has signed a deal with Johnson to deliver one more Knives Out Mystery.
Johnson’s capers won’t stop with the Knives Out films, as the filmmaker has his first television series on the way. The first episode of Poker Face premieres January 26th, on Peacock. The series follows Charlie, a detective played by Natasha Lyonne, who has the remarkable ability to sniff out when people are lying.
Poker Face harkens back to mystery-of-the-week shows of yesteryear. Similar to the way Knives Out and Glass Onion stand on their own, Johnson designed Poker Face as a non-serialized show that audiences could jump into at any time. The first season will feature 10 standalone episodes on a weekly release schedule after the first four episodes drop on January 26.
Between Poker Face and the upcoming Knives Out (or Benoit Blanc) Mystery, Johnson has a lot on his plate. Even with all that, the director is still hopeful to return to a galaxy far, far away. Rian Johnson directed Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi for Lucasfilm in 2017 and was quickly tapped to helm a new Star Wars trilogy all his own.
Shifting sands at Lucasfilm have seen many Star Wars projects and filmmakers come and go, and Johnson’s trilogy has been in limbo for some time. The Knives Out director has expressed interest in returning to Star Wars, regardless of the format. With the franchise’s shift from theaters to streaming on Disney+, a Rian Johnson Star Wars series may be in the cards.
Plot details about Rian Johnson’s Star Wars project have been kept under wraps, and at this point, it is unclear whether or not the project will happen at all. But many Star Wars fans have grown restless as the franchise continues to tread familiar territory, and the Knives Out writer has a fresh and, if nothing else, disruptive voice.
The Last Jedi subverted audience expectations and launched Rian Johnson into the middle of controversial discourse in the film community, and Knives Out and Glass Onion have earned the filmmaker a reputation as the Mystery Guy. Poker Face and Knives Out 3 will have to soar to clear the high bar Johnson has set for himself. But if anyone can solve the mystery of how to keep audiences guessing, it’s Rian Johnson — no matter what you call it.
