Rian Johnson has announced on Twitter that Knives Out 2, which will be coming to Netflix ‘this holiday season,’ will be called Glass Onion – A Knives Out Mystery. Well, that is certainly an intriguing mystery in itself. Holiday season means it’s likely to be released in late November, around Thanksgiving.
Johnson’s thread, in explanation says; “Something I love about Agatha Christie is how she never tread water creatively. I think there’s a misperception that her books use the same formula over and over, but fans know the opposite is true. It wasn’t just settings or murder methods, she was constantly stretching the genre conceptually. Under the umbrella of the whodunnit she wrote spy thrillers, proto-slasher horrors, serial killer hunts, gothic romances, psychological character studies, glam travelogues.”
“When I made Knives Out, that’s what excited me about the prospect of making more mysteries with Daniel as Benoit Blanc – to emulate Christie and have every film be like a whole new book, with its own tone, ambition, reason for being… and (ta dah) title. Benoit Blanc’s next case, the follow up to Knives Out, is called GLASS ONION. MUCH MORE TO COME!”
An impressive ensemble cast has been assembled for Knives Out 2, including Edward Norton, Janelle Monae, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr, Kate Hudson, and Dave Bautista. It seems highly likely that Johnson named the movie after a self-referential Beatles song called Glass Onion, which was on The White Album.
The song references many other Beatles songs, including Strawberry Fields Forever, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, I Am the Walrus, Lady Madonna and The Fool on the Hill. John Lennon said; “I was having a laugh because there’d been so much gobbledygook about Sergeant Pepper—play it backwards and stand on your head and all that.” Fans became particularly obsessive about the line “here’s another clue for you all – the walrus was Paul” and used this as evidence in the “Paul is dead” conspiracy theory that circulated after the release of Abbey Road.
Whether the self-referential nature of Glass Onion is a clue as to what Knives Out 2 may contain remains to be seen. While we wait for the “much more to come,” check out our guide to the best detective movies.