The knives are continuing to be unsheathed for Netflix‘s upcoming murder mystery Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, and now another big name has boarded the project. Kerry Washington has joined the cast of the film alongside star Daniel Craig, according to Deadline. This marks the latest major player to be added to the upcoming threequel, which will serve as a follow-up to the two prior films, 2019’s Knives Out and 2022’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
Plot details on the film are being kept hidden in the detective’s log for now, but Washington has become the latest name to joint the cast of Wake Up Dead Man in the past few days. Andrew Scott, Josh O’Connor, and Cailee Spaeny will all have leading roles in the project, which, if anything like the prior two films, will see Craig‘s Detective Benoit Blanc become embroiled in a murder mystery that features an ensemble list of suspects. So far, Craig is the only player from the prior two films to return, an unsurprising fact given that both Knives Out and Glass Onion featured entirely unique casts of suspects.
The mastermind and creator of the Knives Out franchise, Rian Johnson, is back to direct Wake Up Dead Man from a self-written script, as he did with the first two installments of the series. Johnson will also produce the film through his T-Street Productions banner alongside his longtime producing partner, Ram Bergman.
Washington Is a Highly Lauded Star
Washington is best known for her role as Olivia Pope in the ABC political series Scandal, portraying the character in the Shonda Rimes-created show for seven seasons. Washington received widespread acclaim for her performance over the years, earning two Primetime Emmy nominations for Best Actress in a Drama Series as well as a Golden Globe nomination. She has also become known for her role in shows like Little Fires Everywhere, which earned Washington another Emmy nomination, and recently earned a Season 2 renewal of her Hulu comedy series UnPrisoned. On the film side, she has had major roles in high-profile projects such as Django Unchained alongside Jamie Foxx, in addition to 20th Century Fox‘s Fantastic Four films and The Last King of Scotland. Washington will next be seen in the Tyler Perry war film Six Triple Eight and will star in the action film Shadow Force alongside Omar Sy.
Washington will be in good hands with the Knives Out franchise, which has received critical acclaim and reignited the murder mystery genre. The first film in the series, released by Lionsgate, earned more than $300 million at the global box office, prompting Netflix to ink a massive $450 million deal with Johnson for two more films. Glass Onion proved just as popular and, despite streaming on Netflix, still earned $15 million at the box office during a limited theatrical release.
Wake Up Dead Man will be released in 2025. Glass Onion is streaming on Netflix now.
via Collider