Netflix has announced the release date of Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery on Monday. The sequel will debut on streamer on Dec. 23, after hitting select theaters on a date to be announced.
Along with the release date, Netflix shared first-look photos from the film, which stars Daniel Craig as detective Benoit Blanc. This time around, Blanc travels to Greece and becomes embroiled in a mystery alongside new characters played by Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline with Kate Hudson and Dave Bautista.
Johnson writes and directs the sequel to the 2019 film, which earned him an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay. He produces with T-Street partner Ram Bergman. Netflix says it will give Glass Onion a theatrical release in select theaters, with those details to come at a later date. The film was previously announced to premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.
In an article for Netflix’s Tudum website on Monday, Johnson explains the origins of the film’s title, an homage to the Beatles song of the same name.
“I’m always fishing for something fun that Blanc can grab onto as an overwrought metaphor that he can beat to death,” Johnson said. “This is all in plain sight from the very start. So, the idea of glass came to me, something that’s clear. I’ll be very honest. I literally got out my iPhone and searched my music library with the word ‘glass.’ There’s got to be some good glass songs. I was like, “Oh, is it a glass fortress? Is it a glass castle? Is it a glass man?” The first thing that came up, because I’m a huge Beatles fan, is ‘Glass Onion.’”
The first Knives Out was released theatrically by Lionsgate and became a surprise hit, the rare original film to cut through the IP-saturated marketplace. In a surprise move, Netflix acquired two Knives Out sequels in a blockbuster, $469 million megadeal last year that sources told The Hollywood Reporter at the time could see Johnson, producer Bergman and star Craig walk away with $100 million each.
