We were joyful enough when Rian Johnson talked about writing a sequel to 2019's superb whodunnit Knives Out. So you can imagine that news he'll actually make two of them makes us happier than a hog in muck, which is something Daniel Craig's Benoit Blanc might say.
Craig will be back as Blanc, the southern-fried detective who was hired to investigate the apparent murder of wealthy recluse Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) by one of his eccentric, combative family.
Johnson's original was produced by MRC and distributed by Lionsgate, but he and producing partner Ram Bergman made a smart decision to hold on to the rights to licence the movies on a case-by-case basis. Cue an auction between three streaming services – Apple, Amazon and the eventual victor, Netflix, which according to Deadline, has splashed in excess of $400 million to buy the rights for two sequels, both of which will feature Blanc investigating a different case – at least, that was the plan when the first sequel was originally mooted.
With the deal, in place Johnson aims to start shooting at the end of June in Greece and he'll start assembling the next ensemble immediately. If the next two are as good as the first, we're all in for a killer treat.