And the title of Knives Out 3 is...
Can you solve the mystery? Hint: It's also named after a song.
Rian Johnson unveiled the title for his next “Benoit Blanc mystery” on Twitter/X today, which means he must have finally won the battle with Netflix to nix the “A Knives Out Mystery” subtitle that “pissed [him] off” so much the last time around. It also means that his playlist of well-named rock songs—or wherever he sourced Radiohead’s “Knives Out” and The Beatles’ “Glass Onion” from—officially has a new track.
Let’s play a little guessing game of our own, shall we? This is a whodunnit, after all. The song was originally recorded by a band that came in at number 49 on Apple Music’s recent (controversial) “100 Best Albums” list, although many people joked that they’d be number one before the top 10 was unveiled. That’s because this band has a history of showing up in unwanted places on Apple products. The song was recorded for their 1997 album.
Have you figured it out? The film’s official title is Wake Up Dead Man, taken from the closing track to U2's Pop. Johnson announced the news in a short promo video featuring a voiceover from series star Daniel Craig, in which he calls the new installment “my most dangerous case yet.”
“I love everything about whodunnits, but one of the things I love most is how malleable the genre is. There’s a whole tonal spectrum from Carr to Christie, and getting to explore that range is one of the most exciting things about making Benoit Blanc movies,” Johnson wrote in a separate post, teasing that the song title is “a little hint of where it’s going.”
So what could it be hinting? “Wake Up Dead Man” is a somber track that sees its narrator begging for Jesus to end either his suffering or the world’s at large. Could this be a spiritual mystery? One focused on political or environmental strife on a larger scale than we’ve seen in the previous two? The styling of the font has a gothic, Shakespearean feel to it, so while it’s still anyone’s guess, it’s probably safe to assume this will be darker tonally than either Knives Out or Glass Onion.
At least Daniel Craig’s crazy Southern accent will always prevent this franchise from becoming too dark and dreary. He is set to return for the third installment, which will premiere on Netflix sometime in 2025.