Netflix has fixed 12 December 2025 for the debut of Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, revealing a fast-cut teaser during its Tudum fan showcase that brands detective Benoit Blanc’s third case as “his most dangerous yet.”
The clip confirms Daniel Craig’s return and unveils a cast stacked with Glenn Close, Josh O’Connor, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Kerry Washington, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Josh Brolin and Daryl McCormack, alongside franchise newcomer Thomas Haden Church. Netflix’s synopsis hints at a more perilous mystery set in Europe, though plot specifics remain sealed inside Johnson’s whodunit toolbox.
Writer-director Rian Johnson signalled that cameras were rolling in February with an on-set photo captioned “day 1 of shooting on the next Benoit Blanc mystery,” and production has since moved between London soundstages and surrounding country estates, according to local film-office notices. Long-time collaborators Steve Yedlin and Bob Ducsay once again handle cinematography and editing, while Nathan Johnson scores what insiders say is a two-hour-plus cut.
Johnson has framed the subtitle—borrowed from a 1997 U2 song—as a clue to the film’s “gothic undertow,” promising sharper stakes than 2019’s Knives Out or 2022’s Glass Onion. Glenn Close told People the ensemble felt like “summer camp with a body count,” praising the director’s ability to juggle tonal shifts while keeping performers guessing until the final week of shooting.
The new chapter is the second feature delivered under Netflix’s $469 million pact for two Benoit Blanc sequels, a bet executives hope will replicate the holiday-season streaming surge that vaulted Glass Onion into Nielsen’s top ten despite a limited theatrical run. With post-production now under way, the streamer has begun a year-long campaign built around weekly cast reveals and social-media riddles from the @KnivesOut account, which shared first-look images of Craig and O’Connor in clerical garb hours after the teaser dropped.
