After utterly smashing it at the box office with getting just under $300 million and rumours of a Knives Out sequel happening, it was officially confirmed on Friday that Benoit Blanc would once again investigate another murder and finding that doughnut hole.
While talking to Variety on the Oscars red carpet, director and writer Rian Johnson confirmed he’s already penning the script and that the only returning character will be Daniel Craig’s Southern sleuth.
The fact we’re getting a follow-up shouldn’t be a surprise as it’s Lionsgate’s biggest hit since The Hunger Games and a franchise can promote.
As for Blanc being the only returning character, it makes perfect sense as it follows all murder mystery stories from Agatha Christie’s character Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot.
Now with the success of Knives Out and how popular Johnson is in Hollywood, he’ll literally have actors queuing up to appear. So for a bit of fun, I thought of coming up with a story and fan cast.
The Story
Similar to Christie’s famous Belgian detective, I’d love to see Benoit Blanc on a boat like Death On The Nile, but this could take place on the Mississippi river cruise as we witness the detective in his home state. Additionally, they could either start or end the film in New Orleans.
Cast
As for the new all-star cast again you could probably name anyone, and they’d fit perfectly in these films but here are names I thought of could star.
The Lead – Kelly Maire Tran
It’s clear Johnson has a soft spot of Tran having given 31-year-old her first significant acting role in Star Wars: The Last Jedi and I think will want to do her justice by making her the lead.
As a newlywed on her honeymoon with her wife from a working-class background can play on themes from Knives Out.
The Newlywed – Kristen Stewart
The first woman that came to mind to be Tran’s newlywed wife was the incredibly talented Stewart, and I think she would be fantastic in the role.
The reason why is away from dramatic indie roles, she does excellent in comedic/entertaining parts. That was proven in Charlie’s Angels, a film I highly enjoyed, and she could do something brilliant with a Johnson script.
The New Sidekick – Bill Nighy
Blanc will need a new sidekick for this new mystery, and if you’re going to show respect to Death on the Nile then you’d need a David Niven’s Colonel type and you can’t any more perfect than Nighy.
Nighy is an acting legend and would fit brilliantly with the humour Johnson writes and honestly Bill Nighy playing former colonel Bill Nighy would be wonderful to watch.
The Wealthy Family – Ben Affleck, Laura Dern, Elle Fanning & Thomasin McKenzie
In murder mysteries, you always need a wealthy couple/family and with the cast brought together for this family could be fun to watch.
In Affleck, you have the Chris Evans-eques big-name cast, and Dern, because she’s an acting legend and angel, playing a bittered married couple celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary they take this cruise with their teenage children.
Dern would slay the role in her sleep and would be wonderful to watch and we haven’t seen Affleck properly let his hair down and have fun doing a comedy.
With Fanning and McKenzie, you have two of the talented actresses currently in Hollywood and the future of the business. Additionally, Fanning has played Affleck’s daughter before in his last directed movie, Live By Night.
Furthermore, the Oscar-winning filmmaker could learn something from Johnson and vice versa while Dern had a small role in The Last Jedi.
The Doctor & Med Student – Viola Davis & Justice Smith
Davis is a powerhouse performer and one of the best actresses working today with an Oscar by her name and would be another titan to join this already strong cast to match Knives Out.
Again in murder mysteries, there’s always a doctor. Even though it’s never the biggest role, Davis could do whatever in it and make it must-watch she’s that superb.
The same could be said of Smith, who’s becoming a bigger name every year having led a promising Pokemon franchise with Detective Pikachu. As well as Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and is about to star in Netflix’s All the Bright Places.
Starring in something like this could help his career.
The Cruise Crew – Joseph Gordon Levitt, Isabela Merced, Zoey Deutch, Nat & Alex Wolff, Noah Segan & Nora Zehetner
Finally, we come to the crew of the cruise.
This could be the ideal roles for actors who’ve appeared in multiple Johnson movies. Firstly, Gordon-Levitt can move to an on-screen role, following his cameo in Knives Out, to be the captain of the ship.
The same goes for Segan and Zehetner. Even though Johnson states no one from Knives Out is appearing I can’t see him not having Segan has appeared in all of Johnson’s films and putting him in here as part of the crew would be less distracting.
While Zehetner has previously starred in Brick and The Brother Bloom.
As for the other members of the cruise crew, mix in some young talent to round off the cast.
Deutch is in that sweet spot of becoming stars and starring in something like this could help her career to add to her standout performance in rom-com Set It Up.
Elsewhere, Nat Wolff has done some decent things in the past like Fault In Our Stars, Paper Towns and most notably in the US remake of Death Note. Meanwhile, his brother Alex has starred in the Jumanji movies, Patriots Day and Hereditary.
I think it could be interesting having brothers in the film and they have a backstory of them knowing Blanc.
The final member is up-and-comer Merced and under the wings of Johnson and with this cast could learn a lot. The filmmaker doesn’t do bit roles, even the smallest for characters have something to add.
The Bear Cave 