Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery at a glance:
- Knives Out 3 will first premiere in cinemas, then on Netflix
- Daniel Craign will return as the private detective Benoit Blanc
- The third movie from the series will have a gothic vibe
The third entry in Rian Johnson’s whodunnit film series will land on Netflix just in time for Christmas. However, the Daniel Craig-led movie will also premiere in cinemas, but, due to CEO Ted Sarandos’ belief that cinematic film distribution is outdated, it will only be available for a very short run.
When the crime comedy Knives Out hit theatres in 2019, no one expected the film to be such a success. Flirting with the formula of Agatha Christie’s detective stories, the film helped Daniel Craig prove that he could play more than just James Bond and made a star out of Ana de Armas.
A clever twist on the classic whodunnit genre, hilarious social satire and a sensational cast made the film a smash hit and attracted Netflix’s attention. The streaming giant bought the rights to the sequels, and Knives Out’s follow-up, Glass Onion, premiered on the service in 2022. Now we’re edging closer to the third tale, led by the iconic Benoit Blanc.
We’ve investigated all the clues and hints to find out what to expect from Wake Up Dead Man, AKA Knives Out 3.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery release date
While the Knives Out franchise is typically associated with Netflix, Wake Up Dead Man will open in cinemas first on Wednesday, 26 November 2025.
After a two-week run, it will drop on Netflix, meaning that the third Knives Out film will hit the streaming platform on Friday, 12 December 2025.
Filming for Knives Out 3 began in June 2024 and was wrapped in August 2024. To announce the first day of filming, the creators released a photo of long-haired Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc:
And here’s the announcement that work on the set had ended:
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery title meaning
Rian Johnson, writer and director of the series, enjoys creating metaphorical titles for his crime stories.
The first whodunnit is titled Knives Out, which refers to the Radiohead song as well as the weapons and family feuds evident in the film.
The second title – Glass Onion – refers to a song by The Beatles and is a metaphor for something complex yet transparent.
The third film from the Knives Out series will be Wake Up Dead Man. According to Johnson, this time the name is derived from a song from the U2 album Pop.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery plot
The official synopsis published by Netflix reads:
Benoit Blanc (Craig) returns for his most dangerous case yet in the third and darkest chapter of Rian Johnson’s murder mystery opus. When young priest Jud Duplenticy (O’Connor) is sent to assist charismatic firebrand Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Brolin), it’s clear that all is not well in the pews.
Wicks’s modest-but-devoted flock includes devout church lady Martha Delacroix (Close), circumspect groundskeeper Samson Holt (Haden Church), tightly-wound lawyer Vera Draven (Washington), aspiring politician Cy Draven (McCormack), town doctor Nat Sharp (Renner), best-selling author Lee Ross (Scott), and concert cellist Simone Vivane (Spaeny). After a sudden and seemingly impossible murder rocks the town, the lack of an obvious suspect prompts local police chief Geraldine Scott (Kunis) to join forces with renowned detective Benoit Blanc to unravel a mystery that defies all logic.
Thanks to the first teaser, we know it will be the most dangerous of all Benoit Blanc’s cases.
According to Rian Johnson, the film’s plot and the crime mystery will be deeply rooted in the religious setting:
Themes of guilt, mystery, morality, and fallible humanity all feel right at home in a church, with a man of God in the center of the mix. I have strong feelings about faith: both my own personal experience and how it intersects with our country’s cultural and civic life, and the ways that intersection touches all of us differently. So it felt like rich ground for a good story.
As the director also revealed, Wake Up Dead Man will resemble the first movie from the series more than Glass Onion.
It’s more similar to the first Knives Out in that it gets back to the real origins of the genre, which predate Agatha Christie, going back to Edgar Allan Poe. It’s still a Benoit Blanc mystery, so it’s funny and fun, but it’s set in an old stone church, there are lots of graveyards.
With Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein premiering on Netflix in November 2025, we’re in for a gothic winter season.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery cast
The cast of Knives Out 3 is star-studded, as always. Of course, Daniel Craig will once again portray the famous detective Benoit Blanc.
The film will also feature:
- Josh O’Connor (Challengers, The Crown) as Reverend Jud Duplenticy, a young priest
- Glenn Close (Dangerous Liaisons, Fatal Attraction) as Martha Delacroix, a church lady
- Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men, Dune, Avengers) as Jefferson Wicks
- Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker, The Town) as Nat Sharp, a town doctor
- Andrew Scott (All of Us Strangers, Ripley) as Lee Ross, a best-selling author
- Mila Kunis (Black Swan, Luckiest Girl Alive) as Geraldine Scott
- Kerry Washington (Scandal, Django Unchained) as Vera Draven, a lawyer
- Daryl McCormack (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande; Peaky Blinders) as Cy Draven, a politician
- Cailee Spaeny (Civil War, Priscilla) as Simone Vivane, a concert cellist
- Thomas Haden Church (Sideways, Spider-Man 3) as Samson Holt, a groundskeeper
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery trailer
Besides the title announcement clip, Netflix published only a short teaser for the film:
