‘I don’t see it as an IP’: Knives Out director Rian Johnson gives update on mystery series’ future

Rian Johnson has insisted no one other than himself will write or direct a Knives Out movie.

The 51-year-old filmmaker has helmed the whodunnit series since its debut in 2019, and as the third entry Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery gears up for release, Johnson has stressed he will not let anyone else take the reins to the series going forward.

During an interview with Variety, he said: “I don’t see it as IP. Each Knives Out film is something I want to make. If that stops being the case, we won’t do another one.”

The Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi director added he was not interested in “milking” the series, and instead only wanted to make new Knives Out movies if he had the right story to tell.

He said: “It’s not about milking a franchise. It’s about making something good again. The rest is noise.”

Even so, Johnson has enjoyed introducing a new cast of stars for Daniel Craig’s detective Benoit Blanc to suss out in each Knives Out entry - but ruled out any “Avengers”-style reunions between previous characters.

He said: “I love the fact that each one of these is entirely its own case, entirely its own mystery.

“I love actors, I want to keep working with new actors, too. At this point, I like the idea of having a new group of folks each time.”

While Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery marks the end of Johnson’s deal with Netflix, the Looper director has insisted the future of his whodunnit series is bright.

He said: “We feel energized coming out of this one. Whenever I get the next idea, we’ll go from there.”

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery - which releases to select cinemas on November 26 before hitting Netflix on December 12, 2025 - follows detective Benoit Blanc (Craig) embarks on his own spiritual journey while investigating the mysterious death of Monseigneur Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin) in a small parish.

The movie also stars Jeremy Renner as town doctor Nat Sharp, Daryl McCormack as aspiring politician Cy Draven, Josh O’Connor as priest Jud Duplenticy, Cailee Spaeny as concert cellist Simon Vivane, Glenn Close as devout churchgoer Martha Delacroix, Thomas Haden Church as groundskeeper Samson Holt and Andrew Scott as author Lee Ross.

Johnson recently said he had no interest in making a Knives Out prequel, and insisted he didn’t want to “step outside” of Benoit Blanc’s story.

He told Deadline: “For me, I feel Benoit Blanc, he’s the detective, and his job in these things is to solve the crime.

“And I kinda don’t wanna step outside that to a flashback or anything explaining why he became a detective or something. I feel like, what’s interesting is seeing how he engages.

“But we do learn quite a bit about him through seeing his process and through seeing his relationship with the main people. And in this one, I think you get a real glimpse into a certain part of his soul.”