Benoit Blanc is back on the case for Rian Johnson’s third mystery, and like the previous two Knives Out movies, he will be in new company. Ahead of the detective’s return on 12 December, Netflix has released a new key visual for Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery showing the characters peering into a grave, alongside the announcement of a limited-time theatrical release in the U.S.
As stated in the first-look poster, it will screen in select cinemas for two weeks starting 26 November, although the scale of availability remains unclear. Daniel Craig is set to reprise his role in the highly anticipated threequel directed, written, and co-produced by Johnson, joining a star-studded cast that includes Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Church.
“Benoit Blanc returns for his most dangerous case yet in the third and darkest chapter of Rian Johnson’s murder mystery opus. When young priest Jud Duplenticy (O’Connor) is sent to assist charismatic firebrand Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Brolin), it’s clear that all is not well in the pews,” reads the synopsis for Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.
“Wicks’ modest-but-devoted flock includes devout church lady Martha Delacroix (Close), circumspect groundskeeper Samson Holt (Church), tightly-wound lawyer Vera Draven (Washington), aspiring politician Cy Draven (McCormack), town doctor Nat Sharp (Renner), best-selling author Lee Ross (Scott), and concert cellist Simone Vivane (Spaeny). After a sudden and seemingly impossible murder rocks the town, the lack of an obvious suspect prompts local police chief Geraldine Scott (Kunis) to join forces with renowned detective Benoit Blanc to unravel a mystery that defies all logic.”
The Tudum blog post offers a deeper insight into the treatment, describing the film as one that “harkens back to the literary lineage of the murder mystery” with a “gothic” look and “grounded” tone. “It’s more similar to the first Knives Out in that it gets back to the real origins of the genre, which predate Agatha Christie, going back to Edgar Allan Poe,” said Johnson. “It’s still a Benoit Blanc mystery, so it’s funny and fun, but it’s set in an old stone church, [and] there are lots of graveyards.”
The limited theatrical release format follows that of the 2019 sequel Glass Onion, which played in 600 American cinemas for a week, marking a departure from the typical big-screen rollout used for the first Knives Out instalment.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery opens in select theatres on 26 November, before it heads to Netflix on 12 December.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Natalie
Kevin Low
