Wake Up Dead Man: Everything We Know So Far About Knives Out 3

Before his Bond era drew to a close with 2021’s No Time to Die, Daniel Craig had already swapped spying for snooping: 2019’s Knives Out introduced us to Benoit Blanc, a curious detective with a moreish southern drawl. Created by Rian Johnson, the huge success of what was intended to be a standalone film spawned a $400 million, two-sequel deal with Netflix, with Johnson returning to write and direct both. In 2022, this brought us Glass Onion, starring an ensemble of Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson, and Dave Bautista. And in 2025, instalment three: Wake Up Dead Man. Here’s everything we know so far.

Wake Up Dead Man: Plot, Cast, Release Date & More

In Knives Out, Blanc was enlisted to investigate the murder of bestselling author Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) in a case bursting with angry relatives, red herrings and dark academia. But Glass Onion swapped the brooding, moneyed estate aesthetic for sun-soaked Greece and egotistical billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) and his band of so-called disruptors. The series’ third instalment, according to Netflix, is the darkest to date as far as tone is concerned – but rest assured a star-studded ensemble cast has signed on.

‘I love everything about whodunnits, but one of the things I love most is how malleable the genre is,’ creator and director Johnson wrote on X in May 2024, introducing the tonal shift for Wake Up Dead Man. ‘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.’

What Will Happen In Wake Up Dead Man?

Wake Up Dead Man will centre on Benoit Blanc as he unravels yet another mysterious, high-stakes case. As far as the details are concerned, Netflix is keeping things cryptic – but crypts will certainly be involved…

Wake Up Dead Man seems to centre on a murder amid a church congregation, with Reverend Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor) the implicated man of God. ‘The “impossible crime”,’ Blanc says over a new trailer. ‘For a man of reason, this is the Holy Grail.’ Cue gothic shots of the church, pews and O’Connor seemingly in the murderous act. But, of course, it can’t be that simple: ‘impossible crime’ indicates there’s something much more mysterious going on.

‘This was dressed as a miracle. But it’s just a murder,’ Blanc continues. ‘And I solve murders.’ It seems Blanc will be forced not just to unravel a crime, but to reckon with a denialist congregation that perhaps sees the murder as righteous. Watch the trailer below.

Like Knives Out (Radiohead) and Glass Onion (The Beatles), Wake Up Dead Man shares its name with a song. ‘Wake Up Dead Man’ is a sombre acoustic track on U2’s 1997 album, Pop, in which singer Bono begs Jesus to return to Earth and end world suffering. According to Netflix, listening closely may just beget some clues. Here’s the third verse for an idea of the tone:

Jesus, were you just around the corner?

Did you think to try and warn her?

Were you working on something new?

If there’s an order in all of this disorder

Is it like a tape recorder?

Can we rewind it just once more?

Wake Up Dead Man Cast

Joining Daniel Craig in the lead role is a brand new ensemble cast of suspects. The cast list we know so far is as follows:

• Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, private detective
• Josh O’Connor as Reverend Jud Duplenticy
• Glenn Close as Martha Delacroix
• Josh Brolin as Monsignor Jefferson Wicks
• Mila Kunis as Geraldine Scott, police chief
• Jeremy Renner as Dr. Nat Sharp
• Kerry Washington as Vera Draven
• Andrew Scott as Lee Ross
• Cailee Spaeny as Simone Vivane
• Daryl McCormack as Cy Draven
• Thomas Haden Church as Samson Holt

Dream dinner party? You’re bang on: Johnson has described his casting process as akin to ‘throwing a dinner party’, hand selecting stars for their chemistry and interpersonal relationships as well as their on-screen gravitas.

‘We’ve been very lucky with each of these movies to have gathered some of my favorite actors on the planet, and that’s absolutely the case here,’ Johnson tells Netflix. ‘They’re also all lovely folks who get along, which is the dinner party aspect of it. When you’re making an ensemble movie like this, I think that’s key.’

Where Was It Filmed?

Netflix is keeping the specific filming locations – and setting, for that matter – under wraps, but Wake Up Dead Man was filmed in London from June to August 2024, as marked by a Tweet from Johnson.

Aaaaand we’re off! Today is day 1 of shooting on the next Benoit Blanc mystery “Wake Up Dead Man” – see you on the other side. pic.twitter.com/Napfvq1zXT

— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) June 10, 2024

The exterior of the church we see in the trailer is Holy Innocents Church (Church Rd, High Beech, Loughton IG10 4BF), a local church surrounded by greenery in north east London’s Epping Forest. As for the inside and graveyard, we’re not totally clear just yet, though the ancient Epping Forest certainly would make for an atmospheric filming location.

Intriguingly, a large proportion of the cast is made up of stars from this side of the Atlantic: Daniel Craig is British, as is Josh O’Connor; and both Andrew Scott and Daryl McCormack are Irish. Craig’s character Benoit Blanc is, of course, southern – but it’s quite possible the other three won’t have American accents. Only time will tell…

Release Date

Wake Up Dead Man will premiere on Netflix on 12 December 2025.