In a massive $450 million deal, Netflix has purchased the rights to two Knives Out sequels from Media Rights Capital, per Variety. Daniel Craig is reported to reprise his role as detective Benoit Blanc in both sequels, with writer-director Rian Johnson also set to return, reports IGN.
The first Knives Out was produced by Media Rights Capital and distributed by Lionsgate. The whodunnit went on to become a sizable box office success, especially for an original property, grossing $311.4 million worldwide against a $40 million budget. The film earned Johnson an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay and chatter about a potential sequel quickly took hold.
The purchase represents the latest continuation of Netflix maintaining a competitive line-up, giving the company a new flagship property. The streaming landscape has grown increasingly crowded in the past eighteen months, seeing the launch of services such as Disney Plus, HBO Max and, more recently, Paramount Plus. As more companies remove their titles from Netflix in their own efforts to compete against the streaming giant, Netflix will need to take bigger swings when pursuing and developing its own franchises.
Although details are still sparse about Knives Out 2, Johnson has teased that the sequel will feature an entirely different cast and location from the first film, with Benoit Blanc taking on a new case somewhere else in the world.