EXCLUSIVE: Netflix hits a deal to do two sequels to the 2019 hit whodunit Knives Out, which Rian Johnson will direct with Daniel Craig, who is re-playing his role as super sleuth Benoit Blanc. Johnson, who wrote the original, wrote and produced the sequels with partner Ram Bergman. Sources said the deal will be worth more than $ 400 million, making it one of the largest streamer movie deals in history.
A sequel was expected, but the recent discreet auction between three streamers – Apple and Amazon were the others – came as a surprise. How was it possible? The original was acquired in a single-frame deal from MRC, which distributed the film through Lionsgate. The first film cost $ 40 million and grossed $ 311 million worldwide. Johnson and Bergman were owned and licensed by Johnson and Bergman on a frame-by-frame basis and had the right to make the richest sequel they could. There’s a bonafide event movie franchise on Netflix for its plan. The first picture starts on June 28th in Greece and the casting starts immediately.
The deal is remarkable considering the origins of Knives Out. It happened because Danny Boyle left the James Bond movie and Craig was having some downtime. Johnson, who loved the Agatha Christie Whodunits, had one of these in mind, and he and Bergman prepared it before Cary Joji Fukunaga stepped in as 007 director and was ready to direct No Time To Die, Craig’s swan song as a British secret agent. Knives Out, with a killer cast and carefully crafted script, was a crowd puller that’s perfect for more puzzles. That deal should land in the $ 450 million range.
CAA, representing Johnson and Craig, brokered the deal. Nobody commented.
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