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Rian Johnson's upcoming Knives Out 3, properly titled Wake Up Dead Man, cost Netflix a pretty penny with its budget.
Jeff Sneider of The InSneider reported the budget for Knives Out 3 is $210 million. This is a huge jump from the previous movies. The first Knives Out had a budget of just $40 million. The latest movie is over five times in size.
It remains to be seen how this big swing works out. Netflix is pouring a lot of money into their projects. However, their movies do not generally receive theatrical releases. Glass Onion, the second movie, did receive a limited theatrical release in 2022 and grossed $15 million.
The Knives Out series
The Knives Out franchise began in 2019 with the inaugural movie. Daniel Craig led the star-studded ensemble, which also featured Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Katherine Langford, and Toni Collette.
The murder mystery was a big hit, grossing $312 million on a $40 million budget. Lionsgate distributed the movie, while MRC, T-Street Productions, and Ram Bergman Productions financed it.
It followed the investigation after the death of author Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer). As his family fights over the inheritance, famed private detective Benoit Blanc (Craig) is on the case. He examines the clues left after Harlan's death is ruled a suicide.
Three years later, a standalone sequel, Glass Onion, was released. Craig once again returned as Blanc, this time solving a new case involving tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton). Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson, and Dave Bautista were featured in the ensemble.
Like its predecessor, Glass Onion premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Netflix subsequently gave it a one-week limited theatrical release, which is the biggest for a movie from the streaming service. During its theatrical run, Glass Onion grossed $13 million. It was well-received, garnering a Best Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars.
What is Wake Up Dead Man?
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The third Knives Out movie, Wake Up Dead Man, is seemingly titled after the U2 song of the same name. Glass Onion is a reference to the Beatles' song, and Knives Out is also a Radiohead song.
Once again, Craig returns as Benoit Blanc. The rest of the ensemble features Josh O'Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, and Cailee Spaeny.
Rian Johnson has written and directed all three Knives Out movies. He made his directorial debut in 2005 with Brick. He subsequently directed The Brothers Bloom and Looper.
In 2017, Johnson directed the eighth Star Wars movie, The Last Jedi. The polarizing Star Wars movie was a hit, grossing over $1.3 billion at the box office. He subsequently launched the Knives Out series two years later and has not looked back.
Additionally, Johnson has extensive experience in the television world. He has directed episodes of Breaking Bad and HitRecord on TV. He created Poker Face for Peacock, starring Natasha Lyonne. Nora and Lilla Zuckerman are co-showrunners of the series.
Johnson directed several episodes of Poker Face (and wrote the pilot episode). He is also an executive producer of Netflix's 3 Body Problem.
