Rian Johnson Is Courting A Devil Wears Prada Icon For The Next Knives Out Mystery

Rian Johnson is out stumping for his third Benoit Blanc outing, and he casually dropped a bit of wish-casting that makes a ridiculous amount of sense: he wants Meryl Streep in a murder mystery. Hard to argue with that one.

Johnson shoots his shot with Streep

While promoting 'Wake Up Dead Man' with IndieWire, Johnson said there are tons of actors he still wants to play with, but Streep is top of mind. He even referenced her recent surprise pop-in on SNL and basically said: if Lorne Michaels can wrangle her, why can’t a whodunnit?

'There are so many great actors I’d like to work with. But, yes, if you’re reading this, Meryl Streep, I feel like you’d slot into a murder mystery very well.'

Again: correct.

The wild part: Daniel Craig almost wasn’t Benoit Blanc

It’s almost impossible to picture anyone else doing the Blanc thing now — the flamboyant suits, the molasses accent — but Johnson says the role nearly went to someone else. Not because Craig wasn’t the first choice (he was), but because the timing was awful when Johnson first tried to mount the original 'Knives Out'. Craig was deep in James Bond land and completely unavailable, so Johnson shopped the role around and got turned down more than once. He won’t name names, but the takeaway is clear: in another timeline, Blanc has a different face.

• Early 'Knives Out' days: Craig is Johnson’s top pick, but he’s locked into Bond. Hard no.
• Johnson approaches other actors. Multiple passes on Benoit Blanc.
• Then Bond hits a delay, Craig suddenly has a window, and Johnson pounces.
• Craig reads, says yes, and six weeks later they’re shooting. The whole movie comes together at warp speed.

Johnson’s also pretty blunt about why this series works: it’s him and Craig, together, or it’s nothing. He describes Blanc as Craig bringing his own more 'indy' energy to a character they’ve built as actual creative partners. If either of them stops being all-in, that’s when the lights go out on the franchise.

How many Blanc mysteries are we getting?

Johnson used to bristle at the 'A Knives Out Mystery' subtitle slapped on 'Glass Onion' — he wanted each movie to feel like pulling a fresh paperback off the shelf. These days, he seems less hung up on the branding and more focused on whether there’s a new angle worth chasing with Craig. If the two of them keep finding fresh approaches (new themes, new tones, new toys to play with), he’s happy to keep returning to Blanc.

Worth noting: the script on his desk right now is an original, unrelated project. Past that, he’s still into making more 'Knives Out' installments if the stories are there. He has a two-film deal with Netflix, and anything beyond that gets discussed later — but he’s already daydreaming about where to take the tone and who else to bring into the sandbox. See: the Meryl mention above.

Release plan for 'Wake Up Dead Man'

'Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery' hits select theaters on Wednesday, November 26, then lands on Netflix on Friday, December 12.