Rian Johnson’s Agatha Christie-inspired whodunnit may not have received any love from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association during last night’s Golden Globes ceremony, but it is still a massive hit among theater-goers and critics and a box office smash. As of this weekend, the original Lionsgate feature has amassed a domestic gross of $130.7 million—beating out Golden Globe winner Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood—and a global haul of $238.7. The film has also led to a widespread appreciation for Ana de Armas, Chris Evans in chunky sweaters, and “doooughnut holes.” So yeah, the least mysterious aspect of this phenomenon is Johnson’s desire to do it all again.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the director confirmed during Lionsgate’s pre-Golden Globes party that he is already developing a follow-up that centers on Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc, the aggressively Southern detective who can sniff out a good mystery. The sequel will follow Blanc as he works through a different case, which will hopefully be as star-studded as the first. If given his way, production can start within the next year. Johnson’s producing partner Ram Bergman also confirmed that Craig was eager to reprise both his role and his confounding Southern accent.
To be clear, Lionsgate has not officially greenlit a sequel as of yet. However, we can’t imagine that the company would skip out on another chance to potentially rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars on a modestly-budgeted film. (Knives Out reportedly cost $40 million to make.) We’ll be following this story closer than a june bug on a walnut leaf.