Netflix/A24/Amazon MGM Studios
Over Memorial Day weekend, rumors from the Netflix-tracking website What’s On Netflix claimed that Josh O’Connor (Challengers), Cailee Spaeny (Civil War), Tom Hardy, and Lindsay Lohan were in talks to star in the Netflix film Knives Out 3, which was recently confirmed to be titled Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.
After the news went viral on social media, the official Twitter account for Wake Up Dead Man chimed in to tell everyone to “calm down,” which was then swiftly followed by official reports from the trades that O’Connor and Spaeny had been cast.
Daniel Craig will, of course, be returning as renowned detective Benoit Blanc, as well.
OK everybody just calm down
— Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (@KnivesOut) May 28, 2024
While Netflix has yet to confirm the casting of Hardy and Lohan, given that What’s On Netflix was correct about O’Connor and Spaeny, it’s fair to assume they’ll be right about the others, too.
Wake Up Dead Man will be the third film in the Knives Out franchise, which began in 2019. After the massive success of the first film — making $312 million against a $40 million budget, in addition to rave reviews from both critics and audiences — Netflix acquired the right to two sequels for $69 million from Lionsgate.
The first sequel, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, was released on Netflix in December 2022. While not as well-reviewed as the first film, Glass Onion was still widely enjoyed as it has a 91% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes (compared to Knives Out‘s 97% score).
The Knives Out films are directed by Rian Johnson, who is also known for his work on projects such as Breaking Bad (the iconic “Ozymandias” episode), Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Looper, and Poker Face.
Production on Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery will begin next month and will be released on Netflix in 2025.