Rian Johnson is single-handedly reviving the old-fashioned whodunit with his Benoit Blanc mysteries, starting with 2019’s Knives Out and followed by this year’s Glass Onion, now streaming on Netflix. The success of both means there’s almost no way Blanc’s career is done after two outings. In fact, Knives Out 3 is already confirmed, though there’s still plenty we don’t know about the third film in the whodunit trilogy.
Netflix bet big on Johnson, and the gamble has paid off so far. Here’s everything we know about Knives Out 3, from a possible release date to where the plot might be headed next.
Will there be a Knives Out 3?
When Knives Out turned into a smash hit, Netflix seized the opportunity and greenlit two sequels. That means that the Benoit Blanc franchise will, at the very least, be a trilogy, and Daniel Craig is still on board to reprise his detective role. However, “Knives Out 3” is untitled for now.
What could the plot of Knives Out 3 be about?
The first two mysteries were complicated and intriguing, but not even Rian Johnson knows what lies ahead. In a November 2022 interview with ComicBook.com, Johnson revealed he hasn’t started on a script for the upcoming threequel.
“I gotta figure out what the next Benoit Blanc mystery is, what it’s called, where it’s set. So, I got a lot of work to do,” he said. “So, TBD, I don’t wanna give myself a deadline yet ’cause I definitely won’t meet it.”
That means anything is on the table, from another standalone mystery, to a prequel documenting Benoit Blanc’s rise to fame, to a sequel following up on characters from a previous movie.
When might the Knives Out 3 release date arrive?
The answer to this question is also dependent on Rian Johnson. Complex mystery movies take a long time to craft, so patience will be a virtue for Knives Out fans. But there is precedent: In the same ComicBook.com interview, Knives Out and Glass Onion producer Ram Bergman revealed it takes nine to 12 months to go from the start of writing to the end of filming.
Of course, that’s not the end of the process. There’s also post-production, which could add several months (or more) to the wait. For reference, the first Knives Out sequel was confirmed in February 2020 and released in December 2022. By that measure, it could be almost two years before we get Knives Out 3.
It’s possible Netflix could repeat its Glass Onion strategy, releasing Knives Out 3 in November 2024 (maybe Friday the 22nd) followed by a streaming debut a month later (say Friday, December 20?).
Then again, if Netflix tries to speed up production a bit more we might get Knives Out 3 by Summer or even Spring of 2024. Maybe we’ll be celebrating July 4 of 2024 with Benoit Blanc?
Is there a trailer for Knives Out 3?
A trailer is a long way away, but it could come out sooner than other Netflix releases. Glass Onion did the festival circuit and had a limited theatrical release, so its official release may be months before it’s available to stream. That, in turn, means a shorter wait for a trailer.
Glass Onion again offers precedent. Netflix released first-look images in August, and a teaser trailer in September, so it’s likely we’ll get a sense of what lies next for Benoit Blanc well before the trailer drops.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is now streaming on Netflix.
