His name is Blanc, Benoit Blanc.
Daniel Craig kicked off the 2025 BFI London Film Festival in style on Wednesday night at the star-studded premiere of Rian Johnson’s latest Knives Out film Wake Up Dead Man.
Director Johnson took to the stage at the Royal Festival Hall to introduce the film, and was joined by stars Craig, Daryl McCormack, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Cailee Spaeny, Kerry Washington and Andrew Scott. Josh O’Connor and Glenn Close also appear in the film, but were not present.
During the preparation for each episode of Knives Out, Craig displayed his unique charm when asked by festival director Christy Matheson if he wanted to delve deeper into his character, the loquacious detective Benoît Blanc. “First of all, I want to say thank you for inviting us,” he said with a smile, before adding, “The answer is no,” which drew laughter from the crowd.
“I mean, look at this cast,” added Josh Brolin, who plays the main antagonist, an evil priest with an axe. “Ryan is a great writer and a great director, so when he gets asked to do something like this, he asks him to play the worst character in movie history. You’re right!”
The London audience, which included Greta Gerwig and Andrew Lloyd Webber, was left laughing throughout the two-hour crime comedy, which follows Blanc’s latest case, this time around a charismatic priest, Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, and his devout followers. O’Connor plays an apprentice priest with a dark past who threatens to thwart Wicks’ power-hungry plans.
“Wake Up Dead Man” had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in September and received an enthusiastic response. “When you get called up to a team like All-Stars, you just sit there and watch each other bring these incredibly written characters to life,” Washington said at the premiere. “We were always in awe of each other, inspiring each other, fooling around and trying to mess with each other. And it was really fun.”
The film received positive reviews at TIFF, with Variety’s Owen Gleiberman writing that it may be the sharpest entry in the franchise’s history. “‘Wake Up Deadman: Knives Out Mystery’ is a gripping, smart, horrifying, near-perfect murder mystery treat that lives up to the expectations set by ‘Knives Out’ six years ago,” he wrote.
“Knives Out 3” opens in theaters on November 26th and premieres on Netflix on December 12th.
