Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc trades murder mansions for murder churches in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, hitting select theaters November 26 before landing on Netflix December 12. Writer-director Rian Johnson promises his “darkest chapter yet” involves priests, impossible crimes, and enough religious imagery to make your Sunday school teacher nervous.
Holy Cast
Wake Up Dead Man assembles another murderer’s row of suspects around Craig’s returning detective. Josh O’Connor plays Rev. Jud Duplenticy, the priest who gets called to help Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin). The congregation includes Glenn Close as devout Martha Delacroix, Jeremy Renner as Dr. Nat Sharp, Kerry Washington as Vera Draven, and Thomas Haden Church as groundskeeper Samson Holt.
Johnson wrote and directed for T-Street Pictures, with Ram Bergman producing. Filming took place at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden from June 10 to August 17, 2024. Glenn Close revealed she “was really hit hard” with both COVID-19 and RSV during production, managing only two days of filming initially.
Impossible Crime
The Wake Up Dead Man trailer teases Craig investigating what he calls a “classic, impossible crime” involving a priest’s mysterious death. “To understand this, you have to look at the myth that’s being constructed,” Blanc explains in the footage, suggesting Johnson’s signature blend of detective work and social commentary.
The film explores religious community dynamics when shocking murder disrupts the congregation. Police chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis) collaborates with Blanc to solve a mystery that “challenges all reasoning,” according to the official logline.
Franchise Future
Wake Up Dead Man concludes Johnson’s Netflix trilogy, though the director secured flexibility for potential future installments. “We structured the [Netflix deal] so that if I wanted to do something else next, I could,” Johnson told Deadline. “But honestly, over the past couple of months, the most exciting creative thing to me right now is that third movie”.
The film premieres at Toronto International Film Festival September 6, followed by London Film Festival October 8. Craig earned $100 million for the two Netflix sequels, while Steve Yedlin returns as cinematographer and Nathan Johnson composes the score.
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