Netflix Close to $400 Million Deal For Knives Out Sequels

Netflix is closing in on a deal to acquire two sequels to Rian Johnson’s Knives Out, in a deal reportedly valued at $400 million. Deadline reports that the streamer has won an auction that included Amazon and Apple+ to acquire the rights to the sequels, which Rian Johnson will write and Daniel Craig will reprise his role as Benoit Blanc for.

The original film was produced by MRC and released by Lionsgate. It became a massive hit, grossing $311 million worldwide against a $40 million budget. Lionsgate greenlit a sequel in February of 2020, and has teased a whole new setting, likening the film to Agatha Christie novels:

“The same way Agatha Christie wrote a bunch of Poirot novels, we can do that with Blanc and keep making new mysteries, you know, whole new cast, whole new location, whole new mystery, it’s just another Beniot Blanc mystery.”

The first film starred Craig, Christopher Plummer, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Michael Shannon, Lakeith Stanfield, Don Johnson, Katherine Langford, Toni Collette, Riki Lindhome, Edi Patterson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jaeden Martell and Noah Segan. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.