Rian Johnson Talks Daniel Craig and Modern Whodunnits In Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

Rian Johnson is a master of mysteries, but the writer-director’s new whodunnit Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery puts iconic detective Benoit Blanc in the middle of an impossible case. This time the Southern sleuth finds himself infiltrating a devout, yet toxic, community of faith as he works to save the reputation of a young priest when his senior is murdered. Speaking with Pop Culture Planet’s Kristen Maldonado, Johnson opened up about his partnership with Daniel Craig, the common themes weaved between Knives Out mysteries, and the clues fans love to analyze.

Johnson is “lucky” to be working with Craig, calling the Knives Out franchise a true “creative partnership” between the two of them. This new film brings Josh O’Connor into the mix as the young and hopeful priest Jud Duplenticy playing opposite a skeptical Blanc. “I think [Daniel’s] views are much closer to Blanc’s than to Father Jud’s about religion,” explained Johnson. “Daniel pushed for them to go at each other as hard as possible in that first scene because he knew — and he was so right — that will make the journey towards them coming together even more satisfying.”

It’s those moments that make Craig such an invaluable partner. “You just thank your lucky stars that you got Daniel Craig by your side,” Johnson emphasized.

Each Knives Out movie includes social commentary relevant to our modern society and, according to Johnson, that’s the point. “They've each been responding very much to a moment. That was one of the things that I wanted to give myself permission to do with these movies from the very first one. It's a genre that I deeply love, but that I mostly watch growing up as period pieces set in England, very much disconnected from anything having to do with our present time,” he shared. “So [the goal is] to attack these movies and say, ‘Nope, we're going to throw timelessness out the window and we're going to talk about what's happening right now.’”

The 2019 film reflected family dynamics and immigration debates. “It was right after Trump was elected for his first term and all of the first wave of immigration arguments were happening in our families,” said Johnson. “I know I wasn't the only one who was having arguments with their families over Thanksgiving.”

Its sequel Glass Onion was written during COVID as Johnson tackled tech giants, capitalism, and dreams of island getaways. This third film takes a personal turn as it dives into faith. “[It’s] about religion and Christianity in America right now in 2025,” said Johnson. “And having grown up in that world of faith, having grown up as a believer, very much in that world, it's something that I have a lot of perspectives on.”

Fans have become detectives in their own right as they work to figure out the cases before Blanc can. “When it goes up on Netflix and three trillion people watch it, then that's when I start getting responses I never would have expected,” Johnson said.

With audiences so invested, Johnson revealed he never has to plant red herrings. “I never have to misdirect the audience because the audience is smarter than I am,” he shared. “They're always going to think of things I never would have thought and misdirect themselves.”

See if you can figure out Blanc’s impossible murder when Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery hits Netflix on December 12.