Daniel Craig is once again stepping into the shoes of famed Southern-fried detective Benoit Blanc for the third installment of the Knives Out franchise.
The 56-year-old English actor will play the quirky and insightful private eye in the upcoming Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, directed and written by Rian Johnson.
The Netflix film has officially kickstarted production, and Rian, 50, marked the news with a tweet from the first day of filming with a revamped Benoit Blanc. Watch the first teaser below...
A black and white shot from set shared by the director saw Daniel in a suit sporting a bit more stubble and, in a significant departure from his usual look, longer hair that fell to the back of his neck.
"Aaaaand we're off! Today is day 1 of shooting on the next Benoit Blanc mystery 'Wake Up Dead Man' — see you on the other side," he wrote on X, immediately sparking excitement for the third film.
The franchise began with the titular Knives Out in 2019, starring Daniel with Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Chris Evans, Christopher Plummer, and Ana de Armas in her star-making role. It received critical acclaim and was named one of the year's best films.
The second film, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, was released in 2022 and featured the James Bond star alongside a new ensemble including Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Dave Bautista, Kate Hudson, Madelyn Cline, and Edward Norton, and debuted to similar acclaim.
MORE: Rachel Weisz and Daniel Craig's children you never see
The cast for the third movie was announced intermittently over the past month, with the likes of Josh O'Connor, Cailee Spaeny, Andrew Scott, Kerry Washington, Mila Kunis, Glenn Close, and more attached. It is scheduled for a 2025 release.
Last month, Rian teased on X: "I love everything about whodunnits, but one of the things I love most is how malleable the genre is. There's a whole tonal spectrum from Carr to Christie, and getting to explore that range is one of the most exciting things about making Benoit Blanc movies."
MORE: Daniel Craig looks unrecognizable as he debuts transformation worlds away from James Bond
The Knives Out films have also become renowned for its large rotating ensembles featuring a mix of A-listers (Jamie Lee, Kate, Glenn) with trending faces (Ana, Madelyn, Cailee). And in a conversation with Tudum, the filmmaker shared that his casting process has always been based on personal taste.
"We've been very lucky with each of these movies to have gathered some of my favorite actors on the planet, and that's absolutely the case here," he explains. "They're also all lovely folks who get along, which is the dinner party aspect of it. When you're making an ensemble movie like this, I think that's key."
MORE: Daniel Craig debuts new hairdo at star-studded event alongside wife Rachel Weisz
In an interview with W Magazine, Daniel spoke about dropping his own English accent for Benoit's lilt of a Southern drawl, saying: "I started with Tennessee Williams. He had a bit of a dandy's approach to speech."
"And then combined it with the historian Shelby Foote, who has an authoritative tone to his voice. Benoit has a certain use of words that mirrors both those men — fancy, but still down to earth."