While Craig’s character will be a center part of the story, Johnson explained to In Studio how the actor almost didn’t star in Lionsgate’s and MRC’s Knives Out. (MRC shares a parent company, Valence Media, with The Hollywood Reporter.)
Speaking on if he had Craig in mind for the role while writing the film, Johnson said, “Not when I was writing because when I’m writing, I’ve learned that you’ll always get your heart broken if you have your eyes set on somebody because the schedule will always not work out or something will happen. So, I try to write with a blank slate, but then he was top of my list.”
He continued: “Then it was a very serendipitous moment when the Bond movie pushed three months. This was not like the injury he had; this was before that. It was just a logistic thing, they pushed their schedule, so he suddenly had a window open and we got in there right away and he said yes right away, and we were making the movie right away.”
The writer-director had the “basic idea” for Knives Out “about 10 years ago,” but once he started putting the idea together, it was a very quick process. He began writing the film in January 2018, just weeks after wrapping a whirlwind press tour for his Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
“It was a very, very quick process. Essentially, I started writing in January, first draft in the summer, by September or so I had a finished draft, or a draft I was comfortable sending out. We went to Daniel Craig, he said yes and we were shooting the movie six weeks later. It was really, really quick.”
No date has been set for the Knives Out sequel, but Johnson told THR that he hopes to make the film quickly, ideally in the next year.
Knives Out is available on Digital, 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack (plus Blu-ray and Digital), Blu-ray Combo Pack (plus DVD and Digital), DVD, and On Demand from Lionsgate and MRC Film.
Watch more in the video above.
