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A first trailer for Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, the long-awaited sequel to Knives Out, has debuted online. Click below to watch it:
The movie is the follow-up to Rian Johnson’s 2019 mystery, which grossed over $300 million at the box office from a budget of just $40 million. Those numbers prompted Netflix to shell out $469 million for the rights to two sequels, a bounty which will reportedly see Daniel Craig earn more than $100 million by the time he’s completed work on the third film.
The first of those two sequels, Glass Onion, will be released on Netflix on December 23, after a small theatrical release at a date to be confirmed.
Knives Out followed former 007 star Craig’s Benoit Blanc, a Sherlock Holmes esque private detective, who is brought in by police to assist them after wealthy novelist Harlan Thrombey is found dead just hours after he had celebrated his 85th birthday with his family in his vast Massachusetts estate.
For the sequel, Blanc finds himself on a small Greek island where a tech billionaire named Miles Bron has invited family and friends to celebrate with him. Blanc finds himself on the island, which Bron owns, after receiving a personal invitation to the private island, an invitation which arrives prior to a murder being carried out by one of the guests.
Starring alongside Craig are Edward Norton, who plays Bron, and Dave Bautista, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson, Madelyn Cline, Jessica Henwick and Ethan Hawke, who are all in as yet unnamed roles.
Rian Johnson acts as writer, director and producer on the sequel and he has recruited many of the same people who helped make the first film such a success.
Cinematographer Steve Yedlin, who has worked with Johnson on all of his films, going all the way back to Brick, has once again been at the wheel, while Nathan Johnson is back to compose the score.
Likewise, Johnson’s producing partner Ram Bergman and editor Bob Ducsay, who first worked with Johnson on the hit sci-fi drama Looper, are back on the crew for the sequel.
Does the trailer offer up many clues?
Not especially. It is a cryptic teaser of a trailer, which features a literal puzzle clicking into place. If we had to guess, we’d say the puzzle, which we see each of the characters trying to crack, was some kind of strange invitation to the party.
Knives Out was a twisty masterpiece, and Johnson and Netflix will be keen to give nothing away, especially as they’ve given the movie a release date within hours of Christmas Day, so will be hoping for Glass Onion to be the movie that people stick on as they wrap their final few presents or gather the family together to watch after Christmas Dinner.
The sequel does seem to follow in the precise footsteps of its predecessor. A locked room (well, villa on a private island in this case) mystery with a distinct Agatha Christie vibe and a shifty cast of characters.
Glass Onion premieres on Saturday (September 10) at Toronto International Film Festival and we’ll be eagerly awaiting those first reviews.