Daniel Craig is officially back as Southern sleuth Benoit Blanc, and this time, the mystery he’s stepping into might be the most twisted one Rian Johnson has crafted yet. The trailer for Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery just dropped, and from the moment Blanc warns that this case is “something even I have not experienced,” you know you’re in for a ride.
The film arrives in theaters November 26 and lands on Netflix December 12 — but the tension is already building.
This chapter takes Blanc far from Greek islands and publishing empires. Instead, he’s called to an upstate New York parish where a shocking, impossible death rattles an already fragile community. At the heart of it all is Father Jud Duplenticy, played by Josh O’Connor, a former boxer-turned-priest who’s sent to assist Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, portrayed by Josh Brolin. From the moment he arrives, it’s clear the church pews are holding secrets.
Those secrets belong to a congregation full of personalities — a devoted church lady, a weary groundskeeper, a tightly wound attorney, a rising local politician, a town doctor, a reclusive author, and a cellist whose presence seems to carry its own tension. Their world is already complicated when an impossible murder strikes, pushing local police chief Geraldine Scott, played by Mila Kunis, to call in Benoit Blanc himself. And as the trailer makes clear, Blanc cannot resist a mystery that defies logic.
Rian Johnson admits this one was the hardest script he’s ever written. You can feel that in every frame: the tone is darker, the stakes are higher, and the comedy is layered with something more unsettling lurking underneath. Yet it still has the charm of the classic Knives Out formula — a brilliant ensemble thrown into a pressure cooker and a detective who shows up just when things seem utterly unsolvable.
The cast is as stacked as ever. Craig leads a lineup that includes Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Church. Johnson often says he casts these films like a dinner party — a group of people he genuinely wants to spend time with — and it shows. There’s an energy in ensembles like this that makes the drama feel lived-in and the humor snap.
And for those keeping track of the titles: yes, this one is named after a U2 song from their 1997 album Pop — following the tradition set by Knives Out (Radiohead) and Glass Onion (The Beatles). Johnson says he’s had the phrase “Wake Up Dead Man” in his head for years, long before choosing it for the film, and that it also has roots in American folk music. Like everything in these mysteries, the title feels like a clue in itself.
Production wrapped in London in summer 2024, and the film made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival before heading to the London Film Festival for its opening night slot. Johnson also hinted he may take a break from the franchise after this one to tackle something completely different — so Blanc’s latest adventure might be the last for a while.
But if this is our final chapter for now, Johnson is clearly leaving it all on the table: a murder that shouldn’t be possible, a community crumbling under the weight of its own secrets, and a detective who lives for unraveling the truth no matter how deep the darkness goes.
Watch the official trailer.
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Daniel Craig is back as Benoit Blanc — and the new trailer for Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is already giving “this might be his wildest case yet.” The film drops Blanc into an upstate New York parish where an impossible murder shatters a community hiding more secrets than scripture.