Netflix is acquiring the Knives Out franchise valued at over $ 400 million
Last February, there was an exciting announcement that Lionsgate had turned green a sequel to Rian Johnson’s acclaimed Whodunnit Knife out Now, however, the franchise is seeing a lot of changes as Netflix signs a contract to acquire the rights for a second and third installment in the series, according to Deadline.
RELATED: Exclusive: Noah Segan Discusses Possible Knives Out 2 Returns
Sources report that the deal emerged from a discreet bidding war between Apple, Amazon, and Netflix to acquire the rights owned and licensed frame by frame by Johnson and his production partner and T-Street co-founder Ram Bergman. Although it is currently unclear why the duo decided to sell the rights to the crime films to the streaming platform, Netflix notes that Netflix won the auction with a deal worth around $ 450 million.
The first film was acquired by Media Rights Capital, which sold it to Lionsgate, and source reports helped sell the follow-up to Netflix. In addition to the sale, the exciting word was broken that the first sequel is expected to be filmed in Greece on June 28th and that the casting should start immediately.
Get your physical copy of Johnson’s Ensemble crime thriller here!
Knife out The first movie theater in November 2019 roused critics, received three Golden Globe nominations and an Oscar nod for best original screenplay. It was a huge hit at the box office, grossing over $ 311 million at the global box office with a budget of $ 40 million.
The original paid tribute to the famous works of Agatha Christie and planned a modern crime thriller in which well-known detective novelist Harlan Thrombey was found dead on his estate the morning after his 85th birthday, arousing the interest of stylish private detective Benoit Blanc to investigate. Blanc winds his way through the eccentric Thrombey family and his dedicated staff and must look through the intricate web of lies and red pegs to find out the truth behind Thrombey’s death.
RELATED: REQUEST RESULTS: Should Rian Johnson direct a sequel to Knives Out?
The cast list for the film was compiled by Daniel Craig (No time to die) as Blanc and Christopher Plummer (All the money in the world) as Harlan alongside Ana de Armas (Blade Runner 2049), Chris Evans (Avengers: Endgame), Michael Shannon (The shape of the water), Lakeith Stanfield (Judas and the black messiah), Don Johnson (Django Unchained), Katherine Langford (Much love, Simon), Toni Collette (Hereditary), Riki Lindhome (joke), Edi Patterson (The righteous gems), Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween), Jaeden Martell (Defend Jacob) and Noah Segan (The pale door).
