'More like Agatha Christie...': Rian Johnson on third 'Knives Out' film 'Wake Up Dead Man'

We are two months away from the Netflix premiere of Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, in which Daniel Craig returns as detective Benoit Blanc. Filmmaker Rian Johnson, who directed the first two films, said the new entry is relatively "more traditional" and has much in common with Agatha Christie's mysteries compared to the last two. 

While speaking to Deadline at their recent event, Johnson said, “The reality of this movie, it has almost like a more traditional murder mystery structure. This is how most Agatha Christie books work, where in the first act you meet all the suspects, you meet the protagonist, who’s not the detective. Then the murder happens, and the detective shows up.”

Written and directed by Johnson, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery has been slated for a premiere on Dec. 12, 2025.

Blanc, the flamboyant, Southern aristocrat-style detective has a newer, bigger challenge to deal with this time around. Not much is known about the new case, aside from the information that Blanc will venture into darker territory this time—the promos hinted at a religion-centric crime and a darker tone, unlike the previous entries. 

Wake Up Dead Man also features a who's who of seasoned and up-and-coming actors in Hollywood, such as Josh O'Connor, Glenn Clse, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, and others.

An original creation of Johnson, who was inspired by the most popular detectives in fiction from Sherlock Holmes to Hercule Poirot to Gideon Fell (created by author John Dickson Carr), Blanc made his first appearance in Knives Out (2019), in which he was called upon to investigate the death of a bestselling novelist played by Christopher Plummer. In the sequel Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Blanc travelled to Greece to deal with the case of an eccentric tech billionaire and the strange events at his peculiar vacation hideaway.

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