The 69th BFI London Film Festival has announced that this year’s Opening Night Gala will be the eagerly anticipated International Premiere of the Netflix Film ‘Wake up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,’ by director Rian Johnson at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall.
Daniel Craig returns to his role of famed private detective Benoit Blanc for his most dangerous case yet. This time around will see Blanc unravelling a brand-new murder mystery in an as-yet-undisclosed setting, surrounded by a colourful new cast of suspects.
The ensemble cast, including Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Church, delivers layered, engaging performances that deepen the story’s intricate web of motives and mysteries. Under Johnson’s direction, each actor finds space to shine, contributing to the film’s dynamic character interplay and tonal precision.
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With the latest instalment, Johnson continues to evolve his singular approach to storytelling, thoughtfully expanding the foundation laid by ‘Knives Out’ and ‘Glass Onion.’ Produced by Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman’s T-Street, this third instalment balances tightly woven plotting with sharp observational humour and deepens the emotional and narrative complexity of the series. His direction reveals a storyteller who reveres the genre’s traditions while confidently reshaping them through his own bold, creative lens.
The International Premiere of the film builds on Johnson’s track record of crafting films that resonate with both audiences and critics and marks a return to the LFF by the popular film series written, directed and produced by Rian Johnson.
‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’ closed the 66th Festival edition in 2022 to significant fanfare and the first instalment premiered as the 63rd Festival’s AMEX GALA in 2019.
The movie will release on Netflix on 12 December 2025.
