Lionsgate sharpens its plans for a Knives Out sequel — and maybe more

The game is afoot once more, detectives: A Knives Out sequel is officially in the works.

The news came out Thursday during a Lionsgate third-quarter earnings call, during which CEO Jon Feltheimer and Motion Picture Group chair Joe Drake said the studio is planning a production start on a follow-up to Knives Out, referring to the property as “a new Lionsgate franchise.” That phrasing would seem to indicate that the studio is also open to further films down the line.

Writer-director Rian Johnson’s star-studded whodunnit in the vein of Agatha Christie has been a resounding success: It’s approaching $300 million at the worldwide box office, and earned three Golden Globes nods and one Oscar nomination.

Johnson previously expressed his desire to return to detective Benoit Blanc’s adventures to EW in January, just after news broke that his Knives Out script was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars.

“There’s a lot that has to happen: First and foremost, I have to write a script that’s worth a damn, so we’ll see,” he said. “I don’t want to jump the gun, but it’s something I would love to do. First of all, because I had so much fun working with Daniel, and second, just because of the idea of doing the same thing that Agatha Christie did with Poirot and Miss Marple — just doing a whole different deal with Benoit Blanc as the detective. The possibilities of that seem endless in a way that’s really exciting.”

Star Daniel Craig, who portrayed Blanc in the first film, has also expressed interest in returning to his very Southern, doughnut-hole-obsessed detective, telling EW he’d be “over the moon” to do so. “I mean, I’d do anything for Rian. If he writes something, I’ll do it. Of course I will,” he said. “Why wouldn’t I? I had a ton of fun doing it. You aim for that every time, you aim for that to work out. It rarely, rarely does, but it did on that movie and how nice is that?”

Further details about the project were not immediately forthcoming.

Related content:

• Daniel Craig would be ‘over the moon’ to star in a Knives Out sequel
• Rian Johnson on Knives Out Oscar nom and potential sequel: ‘It’s something I would love to do’
• The most shocking snubs and surprises of the 2020 Oscar nominations