The world of filmmaking, exhibition and distribution continues to morph during the Age of Covid-19 Pandemic. Audiences have stayed home in lockdown which has affected the ticket sales in cinema chains internationally, meanwhile streaming services have increased in business and in number in 2020-2021.
Perhaps as response to this growth and online critics suggesting the streamer’s catalogue needs improving, Netflix has paid an impressive $450 million for the rights to KNIVES OUT 2 and KNIVES OUT 3 the next two sequels to the quirky 2019 murder mystery. The new films will reunite director Rian Johnson and star Daniel Craig.
Craig will reprise his role as private detective Benoit Blanc. The films will provide Craig with a new series to star in, as his five-film stint as James Bond, comes to an end (when the oft-delayed NO TIME TO DIE finally premieres). The first KNIVES OUT had an all-star cast of suspects in its modernised Agatha-Christie-style setting and plot. The ensemble included: Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield, and Christopher Plummer. Hopefully the sequels will have a similar cavalcade of big name talent.
This is one of the largest deals ever made for the rights to a movie series. The expanding streaming market could be one reason for this spectacular outlay of money. In recent months, new players such as HBO Max, Disney Plus and Apple TV Plus have launched and are challenging Netflix’s dominance.
A theatrical tie-in or run for the sequels has not yet been announced.
