It appears as if director Rian Johnson is taking a bit of a break from the galaxy far, far away, and is squeezing in a new original film before he goes off and tackles his newest “Star Wars” trilogy for Disney. According to Deadline, the filmmaker is going to attempt to sell his latest film, titled “Knives Out,” at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, and he’s included the world’s best super spy along for the ride — Daniel Craig.
Thanks to the sudden delay (and overall chaos behind-the-scenes) of ‘Bond 25,’ Craig has a small window to step away from the world of 007 and team up with Johnson for a new contemporary murder mystery film. Described as a classic murder mystery film, in the whodunit style, the actor will star as a detective assigned to find the killer in a “locked door mansion” mystery.
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And for his inspiration, Rian Johnson, coming off his highly-controversial “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” is looking to the classics, particularly writer Agatha Christie. According to Deadline, the director “has been an Agatha Christie nut since his teens, sparking to her richly drawn characters and the twists and turns that drove her whodunits. For a decade, he has been framing in his mind how he would make his own murder mystery, and over the summer he scripted his contemporary version of the locked door mansion murder mystery.”
Now, since ‘The Last Jedi’ seems to get most of the ink surrounding Johnson, many fans might forget that the filmmaker got his start in the mystery realm with “Brick.” He also mixed a little time-travel and sci-fi into the mystery genre with “Looper.” With a future dominated with space fantasy, Johnson is going back to his roots for “Knives Out.” And he’s thankful that Craig is joining him, as they try to create a new character that can live up to the genre’s legends.
“I have been a huge fan and always wanted to work with [Craig] and as I worked on the script, trying to get it right, Ram and I were wringing our hands over who could be the detective,” Johnson said. “Then, serendipitously, we heard Daniel might have a small window, and it worked out. He’s an actor of extraordinary range, and we are looking forward to the fun of finding that modern detective, and collaborating with Daniel on creating a new Poirot.”
Production is set to begin in November, as both Johnson and Craig have to squeeze “Knives Out” between those aforementioned major franchises. If that’s the case, it looks like we might get some fresh non-“Star Wars,” non-‘Bond’ work from the duo in 2019.