Director Rian Johnson reveals Knives Out, his original murder mystery movie, is now in production. It was less than a year ago Lucasfilm announced the Last Jedi helmsman would oversee an all-new trilogy set in the Star Wars universe, but before then, Johnson is returning to his noir roots. Knives Out quickly came together during the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, with Daniel Craig signing on to portray a detective. Plot details are being kept under wraps for now, but the project is said to be a whodunit inspired by Agatha Christie.

Over the past few weeks, Knives Out has assembled a who's who of A-listers to round out the ensemble. Joining Craig are the likes of Chris Evans, Lakeith Stanfield, Michael Shannon, Ana de Armas, and Jamie Lee Curtis (among others). When the film was first announced, it was said shooting would commence in November, but Johnson is apparently ready to go a little earlier than that and now has the cameras rolling.

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Taking to Twitter, Johnson posted a black-and-white photo of his Knives Out clapboard as a way of confirming filming has started. Check it out in the space below:

Just going by the talent assembled, Knives Out is one of the most intriguing non-franchise offerings on the horizon. Throughout his career, Johnson has put unique spins on classic film genres, so many cinephiles are excited to see what he can do in the murder mystery realm. Ideally, the end result will be something akin to Johnson's Brick and Looper, which both earned widespread praise for their inventiveness and clever world-building. It'll be interesting to see if Johnson uses social media to keep viewers updated on the status of production; he's active on platforms like Twitter, so this could be the first of many set photos that give people a glimpse behind the curtain.

Knives Out does not have an official release date yet, but if filming is underway now, it should be ready to hit theaters at some point in 2019. Earlier this year, Johnson confirmed he was still developing his Star Wars trilogy, but that's a few years away from taking off. After Episode IX premieres, Disney is planning a slowdown of Star Wars movies, giving the franchise a much-needed break before diving into a new slate. As a result, Johnson has plenty of time to knock out an original film, and Knives Out should be a nice palate cleanser before he returns to the galaxy far, far away.

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Source: Rian Johnson