Rian Johnson may be busy with other projects, but the filmmaker has confirmed that the idea of returning to Benoit Blanc’s world isn’t far from his mind. While a fourth Knives Out film is still a long way off, Johnson says the creative wheels have already begun to turn, albeit loosely.
Following the Netflix debut of Wake Up Dead Man, the third instalment in the mystery franchise, the director shared that he has only the faintest outlines of what could come next. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Johnson described his current thinking as little more than sparks of possibility. He said he has a few foundational concepts, moments where he thinks, “It might be interesting if it went in this direction," but nothing firmly shaped yet.
Johnson was quick to clarify that there’s no script, setting or theme in place. He explained that everything remains intentionally undefined. For now, he prefers to let the idea stay abstract until the moment arrives to properly sit down and write. According to him, locking things in too early doesn’t serve the process.
Johnson also reiterated that the series has always been shaped by the emotional climate of the time it’s made. Rather than directly addressing headlines or politics, he aims to capture the collective mood of the moment. He noted that each film is rooted in a shared contemporary feeling, what he described as a “vibe check” of the United States, and that sense of immediacy is important to him. The films, he said, aren’t meant to feel timeless but connected to the present.
Before revisiting Knives Out, however, Johnson will turn his attention to a separate project: a standalone science-fiction film inspired by the paranoid thrillers of the 1970s.
Wake Up Dead Man, led by Daniel Craig alongside Josh Brolin and Josh O’Connor, had a limited theatrical release on November 26 and began streaming on Netflix on December 12.
