James Bond star Daniel Craig has been signed to play the lead role in the murder mystery, Knives Out. The indie thriller will be directed by Star Wars: The Last Jedi-filmmaker Rian Johnson. The 50-year-old Craig will portray a detective who is assigned to solve a murder case in the new film. The script has been penned by Johnson who will also produce the project alongside Ram Bergman.

The new film will mean that Craig's fifth outing as James Bond will be delayed further. The yet-to-be-titled film is likely to miss its scheduled release date of November 8, 2019 after the departure of director Danny Boyle over "creative differences". Johnson said Boyle's exit from Bond 25 gave him the opportunity to pursue Craig for his film. The shooting of Knives Out will begin in November.