One of the most anticipated films of the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival is “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” which sees Daniel Craig and writer-director Rian Johnson reunite after their 2019 film “Knives Out.” And while a third film featuring the English actor as brilliant Southern private investigator Benoit Blanc hasn’t been written yet, Craig made it very clear at the festival that he’s down to reprise his part in the future.
“If he keeps writing them, I’ll keep doing them,” Craig said, pointing at Johnson at the Variety Studio presented by King’s Hawaiian at TIFF. “That’s what makes it easy then, he’s such a wonderful writer that it’s there on the page for me to do.”
Craig was joined by Johnson and his co-stars Janelle Monaé, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson and Madelyn Cline in conversation with Variety film and entertainment reporter Angelique Jackson to discuss the highly anticipated whodunnit film, which made its premiere at TIFF on Sept. 10 to critical acclaim.
Although “Glass Onion” features Craig investigating a murder in a manner similar to “Knives Out,” the film is mostly a separate story from the original, focusing on a new mystery with a new cast of characters divorced from the Thrombey clan of the original. When asked if he would like to crossover the casts in future installments, Johnson didn’t rule the possibility out completely, but emphasized that the standalone nature is what makes the burgeoning franchise special.
“Part of the fun of these things is the idea that they’re not sequels, they’re completely new books and they’re completely new stories,” Johnson said. “To me, the idea for the next one — and I’m going to try to stay in this state of mind as I write it — it’s not about trying to top the previous one, it’s about just trying to create something that surprises us and thus hopefully will surprise the audience and thus delight the audience.”
“Glass Onion” will play in select theaters this November, before streaming on Netflix starting Dec. 23. Watch the full interview above.
