Janelle Monae joins Edward Norton and Dave Bautista in ‘Knives Out’ sequel
THR is reporting that Janelle Monae is the latest to be added for the Knives Out sequel, joining Edward Norton and Dave Bautista. The original Knives Out starred Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Plummer, Lakeith Stanfield, Michael Shannon, and Toni Collette.
Plot details are being kept under wraps but the follow-up will be another star-studded murder mystery anchored by Daniel Craig’s enigmatic southern detective Benoit Blanc.
Rian Johnson will return to direct and is also producing with Ram Bergman under their T-Street banner. The movie is set to start shooting this summer in Greece.
Knives Out was released via Lionsgate in 2019, garnering an Oscar nomination and $311.4 million at the box office on a $40 million budget. Johnson, who earned a 2020 Oscar nomination for the Knives Out screenplay, told THR he began work on the script shortly after the first film was released.In a massive $469 million deal, Netflix won the rights for two sequels and a readymade franchise. The only contingencies of the deal were that Craig must star in the sequels and that each must have at least the budget of the 2019 movie, which was in the $40 million range.
Monae was last seen in Lionsgate feature Antebellum and Amazon’s The Glorias.