Rian Johnson Promises Darker, More Traditional "Knives Out 3" Mystery

According to an announcement made on October 11, 2025, Rian Johnson, the writer and producer of the Knives Out franchise, has revealed that the third installment in the Netflix series, "Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery," is closer to an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery than the previous films.

Speaking at Deadline's Contenders London event, Johnson explained that the new movie has a more traditional structure, where the audience is introduced to all the suspects and the protagonist, who is not the detective, before the murder occurs and Benoit Blanc, played by Daniel Craig, arrives to solve the case.

The third Knives Out film will see a darker mystery centered around religious intrigue, with gothic elements inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Josh O'Connor joins the cast as Jud Duplencity, a priest sent to a remote outpost in Upstate New York, who becomes a kind of sidekick to Blanc in solving the case.

Johnson said he felt comfortable leaning into the classic Christie structure because of the strong performance by O'Connor, who features heavily in the first act of the film. O'Connor, in turn, praised Craig's acting skills and revealed the James Bond star's "goofball" and "cheeky" qualities on set.

The ensemble cast for "Wake Up Dead Man" also includes Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Church. The film is set for a limited theatrical release on November 26, 2025, followed by a streaming debut on Netflix on December 12, 2025.