Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Receives Release Date, Debuts New Photos

Rian Johnson's murder mystery world is due for a second installment. Following the smash success of 2019's Knives Out, a sleuthing tale starring Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc, Netflix swiped in. Netflix reportedly bought the rights to two Knives Out sequels at an astounding $469 million in March 2021, transforming the franchise from theatrical to streaming. Production would kick off just three months later on the first follow-up, shooting in Greece throughout last summer. The film has been shrouded in secrecy since, with the official Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery title only coming two months ago.

Now, one month ahead of its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival, Netflix has unveiled the streaming release date. The highly-anticipated sequel is set to arrive on Friday, December 23rd.

Alongside the release date comes two new official images, which Netflix describes as first-look photos. The first image features director Rian Johnson talking to Janelle Monáe (Moonlight, Hidden Figures) ahead of a scene.

The second image is the famed ensemble shot, which includes just about the entire cast. From left to right, Edward Norton (Isle of Dogs), Madelyn Cline (Outer Banks), Kathryn Hahn (WandaVision), Dave Bautista (Dune), Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton), Jessica Henwick (The Gray Man), Kate Hudson (Deepwater Horizon), Monáe, and Craig sit around a dinner table. Notably absent is Ethan Hawke (Moon Knight), the lone announced cast member not featured in this image.

As evident by the film's cast, this second installment operates more as a spiritual successor than a traditional sequel. Craig's detective is the only returning role from the original film, and barring any surprise twists, this particular mystery has no connective tissue to the one that involved Chris Evans' Hugh Ransom Drysdale and Ana de Armas' Marta Cabrera.

"You try and invite people that you like. But the reality is you never know. At the end of the day, just trying to get the best actors in each part, the actors that are most right for each individual part," Johnson told Netflix in regards to the cast. "So, you also just throw the dice and hold your breath. Luckily, we got a great group that really meshed."

On top of nearly a dozen new characters, Johnson confirmed that audiences will get to peel back some of the layers on Blanc himself.

"Blanc was always outside of the sphere of our protagonist and was a little bit more of an enigma in the first movie," Johnson added. "Whereas, in this one, Blanc gets an invitation to come to this murder mystery on this island."

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery arrives on Netflix this December 23rd. Ahead of its public release, the film's world premiere comes at TIFF next month and will close the BFI London Film Festival on October 16th.