Benoit is back: The new Knives Out mystery Wake Up Dead Man gets a first trailer

The Agatha-Christie inspired modern murder mystery Knives Out has teased its return and release date thanks to a brand-new trailer from Netflix.

In a twist no one but Netflix execs saw coming, smooth talking, baddie-fighting, martini-drinking Bond, Daniel Craig, became the mysterious and cerebral Benoit Blanc in 2019's Knives Out. Blanc, as written and directed by Rian Johnson, quickly became a pop-culture detective to rival Sherlock himself. The film itself has been perennially lodged into our list of the best Netflix movies ever sense.

With a Southern accent to rival Posey Parker’s White Lotus performance, It’s hard to say which is more iconic - Parker’s “Piper Noooooo” and “buddhist” or Craig’s “I suspect foul play”. If the Netflix execs are taking fan suggestions, consider this our official request for a Victoria Ratcliffe x Benoit Blanc bedtime story podcast.

The newest Knives Out film - Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery - however may not be a suitable substitute — from what we've seen in the new trailer, it looks as though it’s set to be the spookiest and darkest of the trilogy so far - “an impossible crime” according to Benoit Blanc…

It’s hard to tell much about the actual plot itself from the one minute trailer (and the fact that Netflix has kept the storyline largely under wraps), but we do know that it’s dripping in Gothic gore, and centred around a death in a Church - a death “that was dressed as a miracle but is just a murder”. Other than that, all the streaming platform has teased is that this will be Blanc’s “most dangerous case yet.”

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery | Date Announcement | Netflix - YouTube

Watch On

Josh O' Connor takes on the role of Reverend Jud Duplenticy, a priest, and from the first looks, the whole film is a bit of a tone change from the tongue-in-cheek, character driven Glass Onion prequel.

Following in the style of the previous two, the threequel is set to be released on Netflix on December 12th, 2025 - a holiday treat for all.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is following in the footsteps of its predecessors in terms of casting too, with the film almost being its own miniature red carpet. The first film united Jamie Lee Curtis, Ana de Armas, and Chris Evans, the second brought together Kate Hudson, Edward Norton, Janelle Monae, and Madelyn Cline. This one? We’ve got Josh O'Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner (who had a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo in Knives Out: Glass Onion), Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Church joining Craig.

During the first Knives Out film, the production and casting team previously said that actors were chosen for their ability to stand out in bit speaking parts and master an exaggerated but not caricatured comic performance, and boy have they nailed it.

Given how much of a cult-classic the Knives Out franchise has become, it’s not surprising it continues to attract the creme de la creme of Hollywood acting royalty.

The third installment has seen the return of writer, director and franchise creator Rian Johnson, and Steve Yedlin and Nathan Johnson return as cinematographer and composer, respectively. Ram Bergman, Rian Johnson, and Katie McNeill serve as producers.

• Squid Game season 3 trailer just dropped — and it's game on for TV's deadliest show