Knives Outis an incredibly popular series of mystery movies that can be found on Netflix, but unlike most movies on the streamer, it also had a theatrical release. Rian Johnson is the writer and director behind theKnives Outfranchise, but it’s not the first outing for the director. Early in Johnson’s career as a writer and director, he was fortunate to become a contributor to another incredibly popular series,Breaking Bad. Simultaneously, Johnson was able to create and release the filmLooper, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis, which helped establish him as a feature film director for more mainstream movies.
His next big break then came in 2017, when Johnson stepped up to directStar Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi. And from there, Johnson went on to direct and writetheKnives Outmovies, while he continued to work on some other projects, such asPoker Faceand numerous upcoming shows and films. However, while Netflix has since acquired the rights to the franchise, they boldlyopted to allow the franchise to continue releasing movies in theaters, despite being Netflix Originals.
Knives Out First Appeared In Festivals Before Moving On To Theaters
The thing is, whenKnives Outwas first playing in 2019, it was developed with private funding, to create an independent movie that was then shopped around at film festivals. It was here that the film drew incredible attention due to the clever, witty, andcreative approach the film had to the usual mystery whodunnitgenre. Johnson had largely played in the sci-fi space up to this point, but the film gained enough notoriety and acclaim at these festivals to land a distribution deal with Lionsgate, which meantKnives Outhad a much larger platform.
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The film’s theatrical run led to incredible success, with the movie earning $312 million at the box office (viaBox Office Mojo). And at this stage, the film, which also received a nomination for an Oscar, was being courted to create another sequel. Within a short span of time, a sequel was approved, but before things progressed, Netflix expressed interest in the franchise’s future. Evidently, the culmination of popularity, nominations, and awards meant that the movie was a hot button topic, andRianJohnson became one of the more sought after young directorson the market.
Netflix Bought The Rights For Two Knives Out Sequels In 2021
Netflix Headhunted Rian Johnson For More Mystery Stories
As mentioned above, Netflix stepped in to discussions about sequels and acquiring the rights. They paid a whopping sum of $469 million to secure the exclusive rights for the next twoKnives Outsequels (viaTHR), which was evidently a significantly larger sum than the entire box office ofKnives Out.Netflix saw big potential in the series, and the director, Rian Johnson, was establishing a promising career within the industry. But acquiring the rights came at a cost for Netflix, beyond even the original sum they purchased the films for.
Netflix often prides itself on having a diverse and expansive range of films and TV shows that are released on the platform every week. However, despite some attempts at the mystery genre, it appears thatNetflix was prepared to negotiate and make concessionswith the visionary director to secure a promising series of movies. Of course,Knives Outnow has a reputation as a tense and wonderful psychological whodunnit, and the sequel,Glass Onion, though it received somewhat less praise, stands out as another major triumph for Johnson. And that is partially down to the unique release the film experienced.
Glass Onion Adopted A Hybrid Release Online And In Theaters
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But when it came to releasing Johnson’s follow-up movie toKnives Out,Glass Onion, having a theatrical release was a must. Evidently, fans of the first movie were eager to see the sequel in theaters, and this sentiment was echoed by the director, who was used to having his big releases come out on the big screen. Releasing the movie to theaters for a brief run before itdebuted on Netflix also meant the movie qualified for awards, and it built anticipation for the movie ahead of its arrival on Netflix. And Netflix continues to see value in doing theatrical releases for big titles, such as theupcoming Greta GerwigChronicles of Narniatitles.
Netflix And Johnson Have Yet To Confirm The Release Plans For Knives Out 3
While a theatrical release has yet to be explicitly confirmed for the third entry in theKnives Outfranchise,Wake Up Dead Manis likely to have a brief theatrical run similar toGlass Onion. At this stage,Johnson has been able to have these films debut in theaters twice, so it is highly unlikely that he would be willing to walk back on that idea now. In addition, it is one of the largest releases by Netflix, which has an established pattern of appearing in the theaters, albeit only for a short time. With the movie expected to debut in late 2025, it would make sense for it to also have a brief run in cinemas.
Johnson has been able to have these films debut in theaters twice, so it is highly unlikely that he would be willing to walk back on that idea now.
