Janelle Monáe Slated To Join ‘Knives Out’ Sequel
Janelle Monáe is the latest addition to the ensemble cast of Rian Johnson’s upcoming sequel to the murder mystery flick, Knives Out for Netflix.
Variety reports Monáe will join the likes of Daniel Craig in the film, who reprises his role from the original whodunit movie as detective Benoit Blanc. Edward Norton, Dave Bautista and Kathryn Hahn are also set to appear in the new installment.
Per Slash Film, Bautista expressed his worries about living up to expectations on his given role in the sequel saying, “It feels terrifying. I’m nervous about it. I’m really nervous. It’s one of those things where now the pressure’s on, because people are expecting things from you. I want to deliver. There’s always going to be a part of me that feels like I’m new to this and I’m still learning, and I want to be able to hold my own. So there is a bit of an intimidation factor, because all these actors and directors are just accomplished and seasoned and award-winners. But at the end of the day, this is how I gauge my career, the people I’m working with. The projects that I’m on, the directors that I work with. So I know being announced as part of this cast is a huge statement, because the first film crushed.”
As we previously reported, Netflix has astonished the film industry by purchasing the rights to not one, but two Knives Out sequels for a reported whopping $450 million. Johnson was and Craig are set to collaborate on making a Knives Out 2 and a Knives Out 3 for the streaming platform.
Details surrounding the new project are being kept under wraps, including whether or not any of the rest of the original film’s ensemble cast will join Craig for the new mystery, which is planning to start production on June 28th in Greece.
If you haven’t watched Knives Out yet: the film stars Daniel Craig as super sleuth Benoit Blanc, a master detective who investigates the murder of a wealthy eccentric crime novelist in his house, whose money-grabbing family find themselves under suspicion. The original film featured an ensemble cast that included Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, and the late Christopher Plummer.
Knives Out was nominated for three Golden Globes last year: Best Motion Picture Comedy or Musical, Best Actor in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for Daniel Craig, and Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for Ana de Armas. Johnson was Oscar-nominated for Best Original Screenplay.
Director Johnson said in September 2019, “I’ve never really been interested in doing sequels, but this, the idea of doing more of these with Daniel as his character, is not sequels. It’s just what Agatha Christie did. It’s just coming up with a whole new mystery, a whole new location, all new cast, whole new mechanics of the appeal of a mystery and everything. It’d be a blast.” 47-year-old Johnson previously directed 2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, 2012’s Looper and 2005’s Brick.
