Rian Johnson spoke out about his ideas for a “Knives Out” sequel, joking on SiriusXM’s “The Jess Cagle Show” on Friday that the next movie would take the franchise into space.
“I know, they just announced it. I have to write it. Do you have any ideas?” he asked, referring to Lionsgate bosses formally announcing during the company’s earnings call on Thursday that a sequel is in the works. “Space. It’s time to take this franchise into space.”
Johnson explained that the new one would bring back Daniel Craig’s detective Benoit Blanc, but like the Agatha Christie novels and Det. Hercule Poirot that inspired “Knives Out,” the sequel would put Blanc into an entirely new location.
“In my mind I don’t even think of it in terms of a sequel,” Johnson said. “Ever since we started working on this… look, if we can keep this going, the same way Agatha Christie wrote a bunch of Poirot novels, and then do that with Blanc and keep making new mysteries. Whole new cast, whole new locations. It’s just another Benoit Blanc mystery.”
Of course Johnson already has experience bringing a story into space with a little movie he wrote and directed called “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” which had a worldwide gross that topped $1.3 billion. But what he said he loves about Christie’s books is that they each play with genre and different themes, and each one could be set plausibly anywhere.
“It’s not like every single one is a mansion and the family in a library and a detective,” he said. “She found a very different narrative way into each of them. And just like any movie, you can also thematically attack something totally new with it.”
A “Knives Out” sequel, however, is still very clearly in early days. But as with “Knives Out,” Johnson says he’s committed to telling a good story first rather than concocting a twisty, whodunnit mystery that can go above and beyond the first in terms of craziness.
“There’s a trap you can get into when writing one of these which is to think in terms… to think the attractiveness of it is the cleverness of the solution. And I think that’s actually a trap. How can I make something crazier than ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ in terms of the ending? What if he kills him with a feather or something,” he said.
“What’s actually satisfying at the end is not who did it and how and why. What’s actually satisfying is the same thing as any other movie, which is there’s a character you’ve been following that you care about, and you’re worried about them, and then at the end in a way that’s really satisfying, you come to a conclusion of their arc.”
Check out the full video clip with Johnson above.
Every Rian Johnson Movie, Ranked Worst to Best (Photos)
Rian Johnson is one of the most promising filmmakers to emerge in recent decades, with an energetic storytelling style and a penchant for narratives that capture the feel of familiar genres while subverting his audience’s expectations at nearly every turn. With a film career that -- so far -- almost exclusively spans the mystery and sci-fi genres, he has become one of the most intriguing contemporary pulp filmmakers we’ve got. But sometimes his cleverness can overwhelm his films and undermine what he seems to be trying to accomplish. So let’s explore his impressively creative and eccentric filmography, and rank his films from the least effective to the most.
5. "Looper" (2012)
The first half of Rian Johnson’s first sci-fi film is so intricately realized that you might not even notice it doesn’t make sense. “Looper” takes place in a world where assassins like Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) are hired to kill people who are sent back in time from the future, and are eventually expected to kill older versions of themselves. When his future self (now played by Bruce Willis) comes back, he escapes, and it’s up to this reckless young man to literally destroy his own future. “Looper” is inventive and electric, cleverly combining film-noir, western, time-travel and cyberpunk genres, but the second half devolves into uninspired “Terminator” territory, and the subplot about psychic powers feels like it’s from a completely different and significantly less interesting movie.
Photo credit: Sony
4. "Knives Out" (2019)
Johnson assembles a superlative cast for his Agatha Christie–esque whodunnit, with Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Chris Evans, Toni Collette and Don Johnson playing the family of a wealthy mystery novelist, played by Christopher Plummer, whose sudden, suspicious death attracts the attention of Daniel Craig's super sleuth. They’ve all got motives, but “Knives Out” is more interested in the victim’s hired help, played by Ana de Armas, who has one hell of a secret. Johnson’s whirligig direction and gleaming ensemble keep “Knives Out” engaging and kooky, but the filmmaker’s efforts to give this airplane-novel narrative deeper meaning feel perfunctory. Worse, the mystery runs out of steam quickly and, despite some valiant efforts, never quite picks up again. “Knives Out” is never dull, but it doesn’t have much of a point.
Photo credit: Lionsgate
3. "Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi" (2017)
The second film the latest “Star Wars” trilogy somehow manages to be just as bold, fresh and invigorating as “The Empire Strikes Back,” while still following that movie's same basic structure. Johnson’s film splits the cast up, teaches us brand-new ideas about the Force, explores the connection between fascism and capitalism, builds on the connection between the hero and the villain, and gives us one hell of a twist. It’s so overstuffed with amazing set pieces and fascinating ideas that it can’t help but burst a little at the seams. Not every idea is explored to fulfillment, and some of the plot points are controversial, but “The Last Jedi” dares to take a familiar franchise into exciting new directions, and effectively takes the safety off of the entire “Star Wars” mythology. As a stand-alone film it’s messy, and yet it’s exactly what the series needed.
Photo credit: Disney
2. "The Brothers Bloom" (2008)
The con-artist sub-genre is typically a cynical one, in which nobody can be trusted and even the audience is treated like a mark. But Johnson’s effervescent, romantic “The Brothers Bloom” is an entirely different kind of racket. Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo play brothers who don’t just trick their victims, they weave complicated fictions full of subtext and character development which leave everyone happy. Even if they just got bilked out of all their money. When their latest target turns out to be a quirky genius, played to perfection by Rachel Weisz, their story begins to unravel in unexpected ways. Crackerjack entertainment and thoughtful character-driven drama, with a villainous turn by Maximillian Schell that will make your skin crawl.
Photo credit: Summit Entertainment
1. "Brick" (2005)
Johnson’s debut feature is still, impressively, his best. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as a high school iconoclast investigating the disappearance of the only girl he’s ever loved, played by Emilie de Ravin. His search reveals shocking truths and fascinating characters inside all the high-school caste systems, in a narrative which successfully transforms John Hughes archetypes into a densely crafted, hard-boiled noir ensemble. “Brick” gets playful with the teen sleuth premise, and occasionally gets a guffaw for taking its gritty style too seriously, but beneath the high-concept veneer, Johnson is telling a powerful story about love, loss and loneliness. It’s as potent as any neo-noir, and Johnson’s trademark cleverness never gets in the way of the story’s walloping gut punches.
Photo credit: Focus Features
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Where do we file “Knives Out” among the filmmaker’s output?
Rian Johnson is one of the most promising filmmakers to emerge in recent decades, with an energetic storytelling style and a penchant for narratives that capture the feel of familiar genres while subverting his audience’s expectations at nearly every turn. With a film career that -- so far -- almost exclusively spans the mystery and sci-fi genres, he has become one of the most intriguing contemporary pulp filmmakers we’ve got. But sometimes his cleverness can overwhelm his films and undermine what he seems to be trying to accomplish. So let’s explore his impressively creative and eccentric filmography, and rank his films from the least effective to the most.
Photo credit: Sony
