Rian Johnson has a very clear vision for expanding the Knives Out franchise. His project in sight? Board games and a play!
Glass Onion: A Tale at Daggers Drawn will soon debut on Netflix, on December 23 precisely. The surprising success of the 2019 thriller Knives Out, directed by Rian Johnson, made this story a franchise. And the sequel brings Benoit Blanc back to a new setting, ready to tackle another mystery.
While most directors are content to continue the story on the big screen, Johnson wants to expand the franchise in various ways. This expansion will start with a board game, according to Collider.
For the release of the film, Netflix and the alcoholic beverage brand White Claw collaborated and created a limited edition game, in the form of a murder party called “Crack the CLAW”.
The game’s release is a publicity campaign, but it’s also a collectible that comes with official rules, a script for the moderator, and ten double-sided coasters that assign player roles.
You can play a moderator, doctor, detective, unsuspecting vacationer, or murderer. It’s an old-school “whodunit” type card game, similar to Cluedo or Mafia, where players try to discover a murderer among them. But unfortunately for us, the game will only be available in the United States.
And a play?
But that’s not all. Rian Johnson has another idea in mind. Including that of creating a play. To do this, nothing better than to take inspiration from the best or rather from THE best, namely the queen of mysteries, Agatha Christie, whose famous play The Mousetrap totals the largest number of performances since it has never left the poster since its creation in 1952.
Based on his model, the director would like to create a play based on the mysteries of Knives Out. Explaining his idea to Collider, he quoted Le Limier as “one of [ses] all time favorite movies“, adding: “I love theatre, and the idea of creating a mystery for the stage strikes me as incredibly intriguing.“
John Wilson/Netflix © 2022
If Knives Out is to be a play, Daniel Craig is logically needed to play Detective Benoit Blanc on stage. When he was asked about the possibility of putting on a play, the actor nevertheless dismissed the idea out of hand:
“I don’t think I would“. But he quickly changed course, adding: “Who knows ? I do not know. Rian is more than capable of writing a play. So I would think about it.“
Glass Onion garnered very positive reviews during its presentation in festivals, while generating many discussions about possible awards. Rian Johnson brings the detective back to solve another mystery, this time in Greece, with an entirely renewed cast.
While the success of the first installment has already paid off for the franchise, and given that Johnson is holding another great movie, the games and the play might just come true!