Knives Out 2 and Knives Out 3 will reportedly have at least the same budget as the first film. From writer-director Rian Johnson, Knives Out premiered theatrically in November of 2019 and quickly massed the attention of moviegoers everywhere. The film went on to enjoy a long theatrical run, grossing $311.4 million at the box office. An inventive whodunnit starring Daniel Craig as the idiosyncratic Detective Benoit Blanc, Knives Out revolves around the mysterious death of crime fiction writer, Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer). Though its premise may sound familiar, Knives Out was far from a typical murder mystery.

In stunning news, it was recently revealed that Netflix closed a $450 million deal to release Knives Out 2 and 3. Both Craig and Johnson have signed on to the deal, though the Thrombey family will apparently not be returning, which in turn means that Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, and Toni Collette will likely not been seen again in Knives Out sequels. Instead, Detective Blanc will head to Greece to solve an entirely new mystery.

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Now, THR is reporting on some details behind Netflix's massive deal to acquire the rights to Knives Out sequels. In February of last year, Lionsgate was seemingly moving ahead with a sequel, but in a Knives Out-style twist, it was announced that Netflix had instead closed a deal. According to THR, the deal gives Johnson "immense creative control" and the only contingencies are that Craig must return and each sequel must have at least the budget of the 2019 film, which was $40 million.

Benoit investigates Harlan’s study room in Knives Out

Since Knives Out boasted a stellar ensemble cast, Johnson will be faced with the challenge of assembling another ensemble to rival that of the first film. Since the budget for the sequels could actually exceed $40 million each, Johnson might even have the chance to top the original cast. Since most movies made today fall into the category of big-budget blockbuster or low-budget indie, and many consider mid-budget story-driven films to be a dying breed in Hollywood, it is reassuring to hear this news.

Johnson has made both mid-budget (Brick, Looper, and Knives Out) and big-budget (The Last Jedi) movies over his career, but he seems to prefer making more modestly budgeted thrillers. Though no one should have expected a decrease in production value at Netflix, it should be encouraging for fans to hear that the budget for Knives Out 2 and Knives Out 3 will at least match that of the first film.

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Source: THR