Knives Out 3: Cailee Spaeny, Josh O’Connor Join Wake Up Dead Man Cast

The third Knives Out movie has finally found its first new cast members. On Monday, reports confirmed that Josh O’Connor (Challengers, The Crown) and Cailee Spaeny (Civil War, Priscilla) are set to star in Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. The details surrounding their casting, which was originally reported by What’s On Netflix, remain under wraps. O’Connor and Spaeny will join franchise star Daniel Craig, who is reprising his role as Detective Benoit Blanc. Released in 2019, the first Knives Out was a financial and critical success, leading to two sequels being greenlit by Netflix. Wake Up Dead Man will be the second sequel, following 2022’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. 

“I love everything about whodunnits, but one of the things I love most is how malleable the genre is. There’s a whole tonal spectrum from Carr to Christie, and getting to explore that range is one of the most exciting things about making Benoit Blanc movies,” Johnson shared when announcing the first details around Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. “We’re about to go into production on the 3rd one, and I’m very, very excited to share the title, which gives a little hint of where it’s going.”

What Is Knives Out 3 About?

Plot details for Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery are currently unknown, outside of the return of Daniel Craig’s beloved sleuth Benoit Blanc. As those tied to the film have revealed, the newest chapter in the saga will be “very, very different” from both Knives Out and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.

“The first one, [Johnson] had the idea for years in his head, but he only put pen to paper like late January and by end of October we were filming it, which is a super fast,” producer Ram Bergman previously told ComicBook. “This movie, he really did not have an idea. He just stopped thinking and we were… From the moment he started really writing it, like, nine months later, a year later, we were filming. So, the good thing, he is very motivated to go do the next one as quickly as possible. But, you know, we’ll see how fast he is but this is gonna be a challenge. It’s gonna be a bigger challenge. So we’ll see how long it’s gonna take.”