‘Knives Out’ director plots whodunit franchise after ‘Star Wars’

Los Angeles, Feb 12 (AFP/APP): Hit murder mystery “Knives Out” is set to become a whodunit movie franchise, with Daniel Craig’s Southern gentleman sleuth tackling a brand-new set of suspects, its creator told AFP.

The 2019 movie was a massive success for writer-director Rian Johnson, previously best known for the divisive blockbuster “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”

An Agatha Christie homage about a family patriarch murdered in his sprawling mansion, “Knives Out” on Tuesday passed $300 million at the global box office, despite a budget of just $40 million.

“It’s always been in my head that if this one does alright, then it’d be really fun to do more of these,” said Johnson.

The film was nominated for the best original screenplay Oscar — losing out to history-making “Parasite” — and last week studio Lionsgate confirmed a sequel.

“It’s really more like another case, another set of suspects, another type of mystery, but with Daniel’s Benoit Blanc character there to solve it,” said Johnson.

He has begun writing the second film, with plot details under wraps — “I’m just starting to fish around… There will be a murder, I can say that!”

But there will be “a whole new cast and whole new location and everything.”