MRC Buys World Rights for Rian Johnson’s Knives Out

Deadline.com reports that Media Rights Capital (MRC) has acquired the world rights to the upcoming Rian Johnson murder mystery, Knives Out. The film is set to start Daniel Craig as a detective attempting to solve a crime. Rian Johnson (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) is attached to direct.

With the deal, the film is now fully financed and can begin shooting in November. Johnson also wrote the script and is producing the film with producing partner Ram Bergman. This will be his first film since The Last Jedi. He’s also attached to create a new trilogy of films for the Star Wars franchise, of which he’s supposed to direct at least the first one.

MRC was reportedly the most aggressive party looking to buy into the project during an auction held by CAA Media Finance and FilmNation. MRC’s commitment is said to be more than $40 million, with a strong back-end for Craig and the filmmakers. The project is said to be a modern-day murder mystery done in a classic whodunit style.

Johnson is also looking to cast an ensemble of six-to-eight actor sin the film who will costar around Craig. MRC will approach distributors for the film over the next several weeks.