Benoit Blanc has a long way to go if he wants to make it into the fictional detective big leagues. Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple both have dozens of novels and short stories to their names, not to mention the endless supply of Sherlock Holmes manifestations that have popped up throughout the years. Benoit Blanc has only solved three cases to date, but there will be many more coming his way, at least if Rian Johnson has anything to say about it. “I don’t feel burnt out doing these at all. If anything I feel energized after doing this one,” the director said of forthcoming Knives Out installment Wake Up Dead Man during a talk at the London Film Festival, which the film opened Wednesday night (per Variety).
“So as long as audiences want to keep seeing it, and Daniel (Craig) and I are still having fun making them and still feel like we can come up with stuff that feels not just fresh, but a fresh challenge for us, I think that’ll translate to a new experience for the audience,” he added. This may seem like an obvious sentiment at first glance. The first two Knives Out movies did incredibly well at the box office (despite Netflix’s baffling decision to give the latter a one-week-only theatrical release, likely leaving north of $100 million on the table), and the third has seemingly been well received by the festival circuit. Fans had slight reason for concern, though, as Netflix’s massive $450 million deal with Johnson only accounted for the two sequel films that have already been made. We’ll see if Netflix attempts to re-up its deal once Wake Up Dead Man drops or if Johnson ends up shopping the franchise elsewhere (which may be for the best anyway). For now, none of those considerations seem to have dampened his enthusiasm for the work itself. “I’d be thrilled to keep making these for the rest of my life,” he said.
That’s a lot of rock song-inspired titles to dream up. In the meantime, you can catch Wake Up Dead Man in theaters—for two full weeks this time—starting November 26, before it lands on Netflix December 12.
