Considering that Knives Out immediately became a crowd-pleasing theatergoing experience, it initially came as a surprise that its sequels were picked up by Netflix. However, a new report by Bloomberg suggests that director Rian Johnson’s first followup to the 2019 whodunnit could receive a 45-day theatrical window.
Netflix projects being released in cinemas is nothing new, and the streaming giant even runs the Paris Theater in New York City. However, the amount of time before movies are made available online has historically been much shorter.
In 2021, titles such as Passing, The Harder They Fall, The Hand Of God, and Don’t Look Up were theatrical exclusives for roughly two weeks before hitting the platform. Bloomberg named Alejandro Iñárritu’s Bardo as a possible other test subject for a longer theater run.
With many potential viewers still cautious about returning to indoor activities, the 45-day window has become increasingly common in the pandemic era, even for major studio features that would normally stay only in theaters for much longer. For example, after Warner Bros. shifted its 2021 film slate to day-and-date premieres on HBO Max, The Batman arrived on streaming 45 days after its theatrical debut this March.
Knives Out 2 will follow Daniel Craig’s private investigator Benoit Blanc as he moves on to a different mystery. Cozy sweaters will be swapped for linen as the setting moves from New England to Greece. Co-stars include Ethan Hawke, Kathryn Hahn, Edward Norton, Dave Bautista, Kate Hudson, Jessica Henwick, Janelle Monáe, and Leslie Odom, Jr.
Johnson is currently at work on his new Peacock series Poker Face, a detective procedural starring Natasha Lyonne, longtime collaborator Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Everything Everywhere All At Once’s Stephanie Hsu, who’s swapping bagels for donuts.
Knives Out 2 doesn’t have a confirmed release date yet for theaters or streaming, but if you need to see more of Daniel Craig doing an astonishingly heavy Southern accent, there’s always Logan Lucky.