‘Glass Onion’ director Rian Johnson doesn’t want a ‘Knives Out’ title – The Hollywood Reporter
Hollywood continues to be in an IP-driven moment, focusing on reboots, sequels and branded productions, but Glass onion: The mystery of cutlery director Rian Johnson wished he could cut a few words out of that title.
In an interview with Atlantic published online on Monday, Johnson says he’s tried to make both the current Netflix series and the 2019 Lionsgate original film. Pull out the knife feels like complete stories can exist on their own. Daniel Craig, who plays tenacious detective Benoit Blanc, is the only returning actor for the sequel, which is simply titled Onion on the screen.
“I did my best to keep them closed,” Johnson said. “Honestly, I’m annoyed that we have A secret knife out in the title. You know? I want it to just be called Onion.”
The filmmaker continued, “I get it, and I want everyone who liked the first movie to know this is a sequel in the series, but at the same time, the catch for me is that each time it has a New novel is on sale. But there’s a thousand suns of gravity to the episodic storytelling.”
Another topic of debate surrounding the film is Netflix’s decision to only release it in theaters for a week, a strategy that CEO Reed Hastings admits has left a lot of money on the table. Johnson told the publication that he appreciates Netflix giving it the same theatrical presence it did, though he would have preferred a longer period.
“I really like it [in theaters] longer; I want it to be shown in more theaters,” he said. “But other than that, I appreciate Netflix doing this, because this is a huge effort on their part and the theater chains, to reach across the aisle and make this happen. I hope it will be really good so we can show that they can complement each other.”
Onion’The film’s cast also includes Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson and Dave Bautista.