‘Knives Out 2’: Edward Norton Joins Daniel Craig In Murder Mystery Sequel
Writer/directorRian Johnson’sKnives Out 2cast has added another A-lister to the roster.
Edward Norton(Fight Club,25th Hour) is set to join the movie’s star-studded ensemble cast, alongside returning starDaniel Craigand fellow newcomerDave Bautista.
Deadline broke the news about Norton’s addition to theKnives Out 2cast, but since Johnson is keeping a tight lid on the dynamics of his murder mystery sequel, it’s unclear who Norton will be playing. My favorite part about casting announcements for these movies is that to me, it almost doesn’t matter if Norton is going to be playing a stern family patriarch, a happy-go-lucky vacationer, an evil oil tycoon, or anything in between – I’m just thrilled that he’s going to be rolling around in the sandbox Johnson is creating.
He’s carved out a niche playing duplicitous characters over the course of his career, but he can also play a full-blown scumbag with the best of ‘em. Remember him as “Worm” inRounders? Of course you do. How about as the skeezy, double-crossing Steve inThe Italian Job? Great stuff. But in his work with Wes Anderson starting with 2012’sMoonrise Kingdom, he’s shown a much more lighthearted and comedic side of himself, so maybe Johnson wants to tap into that energy for this sequel. When all of the people involved in a project like this have proven themselves time and time again, the mysterious nature of these casting announcements becomes less of an annoyance and more of a catalyst for imagination.
Production onKnives Out 2is set to begin sometime this summer in Greece, whisking Daniel Craig’s protagonist, Detective Benoit Blanc, off to an international locale after he spent the entirety of the first film Stateside in an imposing Massachusetts manor outside of Boston. Johnson is back to write and direct the sequel, and his producerRam Bergmanis reuniting with him to run point on the production. Johnson, Bergman, and Craig all signed a huge deal with Netflix to makeKnives Out 2andKnives Out 3at the streamer, and it’s one of the biggest streaming deals in history thus far. Those three guys stand to make upwards of$100 million eachfrom the deal, which involved the rights to the franchise moving from Lionsgate’s theatrical division to the omnipresent streaming service.
