Glass Onion director Rian Johnson 'pissed off' over Knives Out title

Hollywood is incredibly IP-driven. Good films almost instantly get a sequel and turned into a franchise. Almost every major film is a reboot, revival or remake of something else, and director Rian Johnson really doesn’t want to be a part of that. Especially not with his latest murder-mystery Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.

In a recent interview with The Atlantic, Johnson said that he strived to make both the current Netflix film and Lionsgate’s original 2019 hit Knives Out feel like complete stories that can exist on their own. He also wanted to title the film Glass Onion, sans A Knives Out Mystery for the same reason.

“I’ve tried hard to make them self-contained,” Johnson said. “Honestly, I’m pissed off that we have A Knives Out Mystery in the title. You know? I want it to just be called Glass Onion.”

He continued: “I get it, and I want everyone who liked the first movie to know this is next in the series, but also, the whole appeal to me is it’s a new novel off the shelf every time. But there’s a gravity of a thousand suns toward serialised storytelling.”

Glass Onion sees tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) inviting his friends for a getaway on his private Greek Island. When someone turns up dead, Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is put on the case.

Craig is the only returning cast member from Knives Out to appear in Glass Onion.

Johnson also admitted that he would have preferred a longer theatrical release from Netflix. In the US, Glass Onion was screened in about 600 theatres for a week before its Dec 23 premiere on the streaming service.

“I’d love it to be longer; I’d love it to be in more. But also, I appreciate that Netflix has done this, because this was a huge effort on their part, and the chains, to reach across the aisle and make this happen. I’m hoping it does really well so we can demonstrate that they can complement each other,” said Johnson.

Aside from Craig and Norton, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery also stars Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson and Dave Bautista. 

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is now streaming on Netflix.