Credit: Knives Out
Knives Out was the start of, or at the most notable franchise in, the peak of murder mysteries in the form of movies and television series, especially those with slick comedic elements. Although the series has been headlined by a James Bond-alum, the series, and the remaining cast, generally make the overall concept a comedy. Overall, the Knives Out franchise, even with just its first film released entirely so far, as Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery has yet to appear on its permanent home of Netflix, has been highly noteworthy for its star-studded cast and original mystery that left viewers immediately ready for more. Below, we’ve detailed the Knives Out franchise and the casts of the two films within the likely-to-grow franchise.
Credit: Knives Out
Knives Out
Knives Out was released in 2019, but the road to its creation started much sooner, in 2005, as that’s when Rian Johnson created the overall concept for Knives Out. Rian Johnson prolonged the creation of the Knives Out franchise for so long due to his involvement with Looper, and then before the director could progress, he was preoccupied with the second Star Wars film of the sequel trilogy, Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Knives Out was praised with immediate success, so much so that although the original was a theatrical release and had nothing to do with the streaming giant, Netflix purchased the rights for two Knives Out sequels from Lionsgate for 469 million dollars. As Knives Out 2 carries the name Glass Onion, Johnson initially conceived the character of Detective Benoit Blanc to appear in several films, so future Knives Out installations may have obstructed names as well and are likely to feature the character. Overall, Knives Out featured Detective Blanc as he was invited to solve the murder of the patriarch and had to run through each family member that was also present during the murder and find out the killer.
Credit: Knives Out
Knives Out Cast
While Knives Out may have immediately gotten recognition for its original story, overall elements, and each character’s depiction of the events that transpired, the cast of Knives Out likely helped bring the film to the heights it has reached that inspired Netflix to spend nearly 500 million to get the rights to two future Knives Out sequels. The previously mentioned Detective Benoit Blanc, set to appear in the following Knives Out entry as well, and likely the third, was portrayed by Daniel Craig. The rest of the Knives Out cast was portrayed by Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Ana de Armas, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, LaKeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, Christopher Plummer, and others like Frank Oz and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Knives Out was one of two films filmed before the passing of Christopher Plummer that include the actor among those billed. Nearly every actor in Knives Out has been noted as gaining massive fame from another role, such as Chris Evans with comic book live-action adaptations, Jamie Lee Curtis with the Halloween franchise, the abovementioned Craig with the James Bond franchise, and others.
Credit: Knives Out
Glass Onion Cast
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery has had an equally exciting cast as the first Knives Out film and even includes some actors from the first film besides the lead detective portrayed by Daniel Craig. However, the roles were beyond minuscule as Joseph Gordon-Levitt appeared in the same type of role as he did in Knives Out, with a simple voice cameo, and Noah Segan, who appeared as a trooper in the first film, appeared in a much more noticed role in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Outside of the minuscule roles of the reoccurring actors, but not their roles, and Daniel Craig, the cast of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery has been entirely fresh but equally as complex as the first film, at the very least. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery fulfilled the rest of its main cast with Dave Bautista, Madelyn Cline, Edward Notron, Katheryn Hahn, Janelle Monae, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson, Jessica Henwick, Jackie Hoffman, and Dallas Robert. Cameos in Glass Onion far outweighed the cameos and celebrity references of Knives Out, with appearances from Ethan Hawke, uncredited as himself, Hugh Grant as Detective Blanc’s domestic partner, cameos of Yo-Yo Ma, Natasha Lyonne, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Serena Williams, and the likenesses of Jared Leto and Jeremy Renner. While, of course, unplanned, like Knives Out, Glass Onion held two final and post-humous appearances, one from Stephen Sondheim and another from Angela Lansbury. Overall, Glass Onion premiered in theaters for one week only in November but will be available on Netflix on December 23rd.
