Daniel Craig attends the premiere of “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” at the Princess of Wales Theatre during the 色色啦 International Film Festival on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, in 色色啦. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Mila Kunis, from left, Glenn Close, Kerry Washington, and Cailee Spaeny attend the premiere of “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” at the Princess of Wales Theatre during the 色色啦 International Film Festival on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, in 色色啦. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Kerry Washington attends the premiere of “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” at the Princess of Wales Theatre during the 色色啦 International Film Festival on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, in 色色啦. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Glenn Close attends the premiere of “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” at the Princess of Wales Theatre during the 色色啦 International Film Festival on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, in 色色啦. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Andrew Scott attends the premiere of “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” at the Princess of Wales Theatre during the 色色啦 International Film Festival on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, in 色色啦. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Cailee Spaeny attends the premiere of “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” at the Princess of Wales Theatre during the 色色啦 International Film Festival on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, in 色色啦. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Daniel Craig attends the premiere of “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” at the Princess of Wales Theatre during the 色色啦 International Film Festival on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, in 色色啦. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
TORONTO (AP) 鈥 For the third time, the knives were out at the 色色啦 International Film Festival.
Rian Johnson on Saturday night premiered the third movie in his whodunit series, 鈥淲ake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.鈥 Like the previous two movies, and Johnson brought a cavalcade of stars to 色色啦鈥檚 Princess of Wales Theatre for what was easily the hottest ticket of the festival.
鈥淭his is my favorite place to be in the world,鈥 said Johnson, recalling the similar TIFF first weekend premieres of his first two mysteries.
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鈥淲ake Up, Dead Man鈥 is arguably Johnson’s darkest, most intricate and most star-studded 鈥淜nives Out鈥 mystery yet. It includes plenty of the quips that have characterized the first two movies (there are 鈥淪tar Wars鈥 and 鈥淪cooby Doo鈥 references), but the film is also more ambitiously existential.
Daniel Craig鈥檚 Benoit Blanc returns for a murder case involving a local church, with themes of truth, lies and grace threaded throughout. Josh O鈥機onnor stars a young priest named Jud Duplenticy, with Josh Brolin as the Monsignor and Glenn Close as a devout parishioner. The cast also includes Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Daryl McCormack, Andrew Scott, Kerry Washington, Thomas Haden Church and Cailee Spaeny.
鈥淭he first one was kind of a cozy, Agatha Christie family mystery. The second one was a big blow-out vacation mystery. And with this third one, we’re going back to the roots of the genre,” Johnson said. 鈥淎nd the roots of genre actually lie in Edgar Allan Poe. A little gothic. We’re going to go by way of Poe into some John Dickson Carr. We’re going to veer into some G.K. Chesterton with the Father Brown mysteries. And we’re going to go back to church.鈥
After the screening, the cast spoke about their joy at being inducted into Johnson’s 鈥淜nives Out鈥 ensembles. Renner said it was 鈥渓ike winning the lottery.鈥 Washington compared it to an all-star team.
鈥淧utting this many stars into one film is literally like herding cats,鈥 said a beaming Craig.
After the first 鈥淜nives Out鈥 was released in 2019 by Lionsgate, grossing $312 million worldwide, Netflix scooped up the sequels in a $400 million package.
Though Netflix has prioritized its streaming platform over theatrical, it gave 鈥淕lass Onion: Knives Out 2鈥 a run in 696 theaters in 2022, including the biggest chains AMC, Regal and Cinemark. Though much smaller than a traditional theatrical opening (big productions typically launch in 3,000 to 4,000 theaters), the movie was estimated to gross $15 million in its first week.
Wake Up Dead Man鈥 will open in select theaters Nov. 26 for a two-week run before it begins streaming on Dec. 12.
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