“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” is a new whodunnit by Rian Johnson and the sequel to the 2019 film.
The film is released in theaters for the Thanksgiving weekend and will be available on Netflix in December. So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about the film.
- Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is a 2022 American murder mystery film
- It is written and directed by Rian Johnson
- Johnson co-produced it with Ram Bergman
- It is the sequel to Knives Out (2019)
- Daniel Craig reprises his role as Benoit Blanc, a master detective taking on a new case
- The film features a new ensemble cast consisting of Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson, and Dave Bautista
- In March 2021, Netflix bought the rights to two sequels to Knives Out for $469 million
- Filming took place on the island of Spetses, Greece between June and July 2021
- Filming continued outside of Greece until September
- Glass Onion had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2022
- The film is scheduled to have a one-week limited theatrical release on November 23, 2022
- Before its streaming release on December 23, by Netflix
- The film was acclaimed by critics
- The new film follows tech billionaire Miles Bron, who invites his friends (and Detective Benoit Blanc) for a “murder mystery party” getaway on Glass Onion, his private Greek island
- When someone dies, Blanc must crack the case and discover who the killer is
- The 2019 film Knives Out was a commercially successful production from MRC and Lionsgate Films. It grossed over $311 million on a budget of $40 million
- Making it the second-highest-grossing original movie of the year that was not based on existing intellectual property
- Before its release, writer and director Rian Johnson had teased the possibility of a sequel revolving around the lead character, Detective Benoit Blanc
- The sequel was officially greenlit by Lionsgate in early 2020
- In March 2021, Netflix outbid Amazon and Apple at an auction to acquire the rights to the film and another sequel to Knives Out for $469 million
- With Johnson returning as director and Daniel Craig set to reprise his role as Blanc
- With a budget of at least $40 million for the first installment
- Johnson, Craig, and producer Ram Bergman are reportedly being paid more than $100 million for their roles in both productions
- A losing bidder called it an inexplicable and “mind-boggling” deal
- Craig worked with a dialect coach to regain familiarity with Blanc’s Southern accent
- Johnson previously considered having Blanc speak with an inexplicably different accent in each film
- Johnson made it clear that Glass Onion was not a continuation of its predecessor but a standalone film featuring a new story and cast, similar to the Hercule Poirot novel series by Agatha Christie
- In addition to Christie novels, he took inspiration from “tropical getaway murder mysteries” like Evil Under the Sun and especially The Last of Sheila
- Johnson wanted the film’s title to refer to something hidden in plain sight
- He chose “glass” because it is clear, and searched his phone for songs with the word
- He landed on “Glass Onion” by the Beatles and, as a fan of the band, picked it as the title
- The song is featured in the end credits of the film
- Johnson described casting the film as “throwing a dinner party”
- Dave Bautista said Johnson encouraged him to audition during an unprompted call
- Kathryn Hahn secured her role over several Zoom calls with Johnson
- In the United States and Canada, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery will be released alongside Bones and All, Strange World, Devotion, and the wide expansion of The Fabelmans
- It is projected to gross around $6–8 million from 638 theaters over its five-day opening weekend
- As its processor, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, was met with crittical acclaim from film critics
- On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 93% rating
- Based on 133 critics’ reviews
- With an average rating of 8.1/10
- The website’s consensus reads, “Glass Onion brings back Benoit Blanc for another wildly entertaining mystery rounded out by an outstanding ensemble cast”
- Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 81 out of 100
- Based on 23 critics
- Indicating “universal acclaim”
- Netflix holds the film rights to at least one more Knives Out film
- In September 2020, Johnson confirmed his intention to make more
- Later that month, Craig and Johnson both separately stated that they will continue making additional films in the series, so long as they are both involved together
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