With Rian Johnson developing a new Star Wars trilogy, and Daniel Craig ready and waiting to film Bond 25, you’d think they’d have a lot on their plate and no time to make any other projects. Well thankfully, you’d be wrong, as the duo have teamed up for an original murder mystery called Knives Out.
Johnson has written the story, which is described as a contemporary murder mystery, and will direct the film with Craig playing a detective assigned to solve the crime. The package will be up for studio bidding at the Toronto International Film Festival later this week.
With Bond 25 now potentially back to the drawing board after Danny Boyle‘s exit, with filming no longer planned for the autumn, the plan is to start production on Knives Out in November, before Johnson becomes too busy with his Star Wars trilogy that will consist of brand new characters and settings.
That’s still in the works, so in the meantime Johnson whipped out a script over the summer that was born out of his love of Agatha Christie novels. He and his producing partner Ram Bergman spoke to Deadline about how they came up with the idea of casting Craig:
“I have been a huge fan and always wanted to work with him and as I worked on the script, trying to get it right, Ram and I were wringing our hands over who could be the detective. Then, serendipitously, we heard Daniel might have a small window, and it worked out.
He’s an actor of extraordinary range, and we are looking forward to the fun of finding that modern detective, and collaborating with Daniel on creating a new Poirot”.
Although the script was only just sent out to prospective buyers over the last few days, expect Knives Out to generate a hefty amount of interest. It’s also great that before Johnson is consumed by the Star Wars juggernaut for likely close to a decade, he’ll be able to make a smaller, original film.
Johnson has already shown his knack for fascinating mysteries with Brick and Looper, and Craig has proven to be a great fit in the mystery-thriller genre thanks to his excellent performance in David Fincher‘s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. This could be a perfect match.
#Peace.Love.KnivesOut
