Posted in: Movies, Netflix | Tagged: wake up dead man

Wake Up Dead Man: The Murder Is Framed "As An Impossible Thing"

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery centers around a murder which is seen "as an impossible thing that could never have happened."

Netflix is coming into the fall season with two big movies from two of the best directors working right now. The first Knives Out film was a bit of a surprise with how well it was received. The franchise bounced over to Netflix for the next two entries, and while Glass Onion was not quite as good as the first film, it was still a ton of fun. Director Rian Johnson is wrapping up this deal with Netflix with Wake Up Dead Man later this year. We only have the bare bones information about it, but Johnson recently spoke to Empire and explained how this case is centered around something that could not have possibly happened, which is something Blanc (Daniel Craig) has a hard time coping with.

"It's centred around the church, and all the suspects are regulars in the parish," Johnson said. "Blanc is seeing it as, 'It's just a murder, I can solve this.' The way the murder presents itself is the opposite of that. It's framed as an impossible thing that could never have happened, almost miraculous in nature. And Blanc as the rationalist is coming in to do what he does, and prove that wrong."

How very A Haunting in Venice of them, but that movie was mediocre at best, so the idea of putting the rational detective up against a murder that seems to defy the very logic that guides them is always fun. Wake Up Dead Man also has Blanc taking on a little sidekick, as he did with the previous two films, only this time it's Josh O'Connor. Another unique aspect of this film that Johnson is teasing is the personal journey that Blac specifically is going to go on.

"He ends up partnering with Blanc on solving this mystery; it's very much [Jud's] journey," says Johnson. "He has the biggest personal journey in this one. Benoit has to engage with [the mystery] in a different way. He's in a very different place than in the previous two films. Daniel and I had a lot of fun thinking about where Blanc is at in his life. And I think he's going through some shit!"

Wake Up Dead Man might be the third in this franchise, but we can hope either Netflix renews the deal or someone else swoops in to take over again. The nice thing about these movies is that the only person Johnson has to worry about scheduling, aside from himself, is Craig. It also sounds like everyone in Hollywood really wants to jump onto one of these films, and we always hear how positive the entire experience is. So, basically, this movie needs to slap so we can get ten more.

Wake Up Dead Man: Summary, Cast List, Release Date

The only summary we have for Wake Up Dead Man is: "Benoit Blanc returns for his most dangerous case yet." The cast list underneath the date announcement says, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, the newest Benoit Blanc whodunnit from writer and director Rian Johnson, starring Daniel Craig, Josh O'Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Church. Wake Up Dead Man will stream on Netflix on December 12th, 2025.

We knew that a Knives Out film would be coming out on Netflix eventually because of the deal Johnson signed, but we learned in May 2024 that the film, titled Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, would be going into production. However, aside from that, we knew very little until June 2024. Director and writer Rian Johnson took the time to his official X/Twitter to share the logo and official title of the film. They are still keeping that "A Knives Out Mystery" part even though Johnson has said that he doesn't like it, and by mid-August 2024, Johnson confirmed that production on the new Knives Out film had wrapped.

During the initial announcement, Johnson said, "I love everything about whodunnits, but one of the things I love most is how malleable the genre is. There's a whole tonal spectrum from Carr to Christie, and getting to explore that range is one of the most exciting things about making Benoit Blanc movies."

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