Netflix Buys Rights to ‘Knives Out’ 2 and 3 for $450 Million
2019’s hit whodunit “Knives Out” was a major box office success, bringing in an estimated $311 million in ticket sales on a $40 million budget. This was a surprise to some considering the polarizing political climate and the film’s overt political themes as well as the divergent opinions surrounding writer/director Rian Johnson following the mixed reception of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi“. Nevertheless, the film was a hit with critics and audiences alike, who appreciated the film’s twists and turns, colorful characters, and sense of humor.
Picking up on this success, Netflix has shelled out $450 million for the rights to turn the film into a series, with plans to release 2 sequels on the platform. While “Knives Out” was a fairly self-contained film, Rian Johnson has expressed interest in being able to make sequels every so often, similar in nature to the serial works of mystery writers like Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring a single protagonist across several largely unrelated adventures. Daniel Craig is set to return as gentleman-sleuth Benoit Blanc, however these sequels will likely involve new stories and new characters with little involvement from the original film’s cast.
All that said, $450 million is a huge number, and is almost unprecedented in the streaming space, however increased competition from other content providers has driven up demand and forced Netflix to commit larger dollar figures to these deals. In addition, salaries for key actors and behind the camera personnel tend to go up astronomically when a movie gets a sequel. Daniel Craig, who made $20 million for the latest Bond film “No Time to Die“, looks to get a sizable piece of that $450 million check. Netflix executives have also stated that a large portion of the funds will be used to market and promote the series in an effort to “event-ise” them around the world similar to the manner in which Marvel turns the releases of its Avengers movies into major cultural events.
It is unclear whether these films will have a theatrical release or go direct to streaming, but it is safe to say that this deal puts a lot of pressure on the suits at Netflix to get these movies made and recoup their investment. Hopefully the next few installments bring the same amount of fun as the first, but this is a high-risk high-reward move by the streaming pioneer.
While waiting for Knives Out 2 (or 2 Knives Out, or whatever it’s going to be called) be sure to check out our thoughts on the first film in Episode 6 of the Under the Wheels podcast.
