As a result, Knives Out devotees may start their holiday celebrations a little early this year. Its sequel, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, is set for a December 23 release on Netflix.
The first trailer for the star-studded, Rian Johnson-directed whodunit was just revealed on Netflix Tudum, along with the film’s premiere date and some fresh narrative elements. The film will follow Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), an eccentric private investigator with a Southern drawl who is hired by software millionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) to investigate a murder on his private Mediterranean island.
Johnson says, “You certainly get to know him a little bit more” about Blanc in Glass Onion than you did in the previous film, where Blanc was primarily an antagonist to Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas). It’s unclear if Cabrera or any of the other feuding Thrombey family members from Knives Out will return, but actor Jamie Lee Curtis has hinted that they may be attending treatment instead. According to Johnson, the film was influenced by both the original Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot books and a number of sun-drenched murder mystery films, most notably The Last of Sheila (1973).
Onion Glass Johnson elaborates that Glass Onion is part of one of Blanc’s expound, tortured metaphors, similar to his famous “donut hole in the donut’s hole” monologue in Knives Out, and that the title is a nod to the Beatles. Johnson wanted to find a song with a fitting title because he wanted the glass element of the metaphor to be a stronghold made of glass. Is this a fortress made entirely of glass? Does he seem to be made of glass?” Being a lifelong follower of the Fab Four naturally led me to the Beatles’ “Glass Onion.”
John Lennon purposely made the words of “Glass Onion” obscure to confound fans who were looking for hidden significance in the Beatles’ music, which was fitting as the song was inspired by a murder investigation. Madelyn Cline, Kathryn Hahn, Jessica Henwick, Kate Hudson, Janelle Monáe, and Leslie Odom Jr. also appear in Glass Onion. The show is co-produced by Johnson’s regular producing partner, Ram Bergman, and Johnson. As Johnson put it, filming at Porto Heli, a Greek tourist town, was “like a summer vacation” for the cast and crew. Netflix paid $469 million in 2021 for the rights to both Knives Out and its upcoming sequel, which will be helmed by Johnson. After a short run in theatres, on December 23 Glass Onion will debut on Netflix with no other streaming partners.