Director Rian Johnson, widely celebrated for crafting the successful Benoit Blanc detective series, has officially unveiled the specifics surrounding the third installment of the franchise, titled Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. This highly anticipated picture sees the return of Academy Award winner Daniel Craig, reprising his role as the tireless, Southern-fried sleuth. The film is scheduled for a broad theatrical debut across the United States on December 12, 2025, allowing fans plenty of time to mark their calendars. However, dedicated audiences will have an opportunity to catch the film earlier in select cinemas starting November 26, 2025. Intriguingly, the global premiere for the mystery, according to Johnson, took place much earlier, on September 6, at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival, suggesting a unique rollout strategy for the Netflix-backed feature.
Johnson confirmed that this newest cinematic episode draws heavily on the aesthetic and underlying tension characteristic of paranoid thrillers from the 1970s, while simultaneously incorporating a subtle, yet crucial, layer of science fiction into the narrative framework. Detective Benoit Blanc will find himself immersed in a complex investigation centered around unsettling events within a small, isolated church community—a scenario which the director suggests will prove to be the most perilous and demanding assignment of Blanc’s distinguished career. Adding significant star power and gravitas to the story is an impressive ensemble cast, featuring established names such as Josh Brolin, Jeremy Renner, Mila Kunis, and Glenn Close, alongside rising talents including Josh O’Connor, Kerry Washington, and Andrew Scott.
The filmmaker, recognized globally as a master of intricate, multi-layered plots and narrative misdirection, shared that penning the screenplay for Wake Up Dead Man was, by far, the most demanding writing experience of his professional life. This difficulty stems from the fact that the script delves into themes that are profoundly personal to him. Despite his highly successful and lucrative collaboration with Netflix on the Knives Out sequels, Johnson remains a staunch and vocal advocate for the traditional cinematic viewing experience. He firmly asserted that seeing films on the big screen is “extremely important” for the audience experience, dismissing widespread rumors concerning the decline of movie theaters as greatly exaggerated and premature.
While currently fulfilling his contractual obligations to the streaming giant, Johnson took the opportunity to offer insight into his broader future creative endeavors. Fans eager for his involvement in a galaxy far, far away learned that his long-anticipated Star Wars trilogy, first announced several years ago, remains strictly in the earliest stages of conceptual outlines and brainstorming; he confirmed that the project has not yet progressed into active, hands-on development or production. Instead, the director’s immediate creative energy is focused squarely on returning to a specific type of genre filmmaking he previously explored with critical success in works like the time-travel thriller Looper. This involves developing a new, original project: a tense, atmospheric thriller executed in the distinctive style of the 1970s, heavily infused with compelling science fiction (SF) elements, signaling a return to his roots in original high-concept storytelling.