Knives Out

For other uses, see Knives Out (disambiguation).

Knives Out
In a library, the characters of the film are standing behind Harlan Thrombey (portrayed by Christopher Plummer), who is seen sitting in a red chair. Behind the film's title, a magnifying glass appears with a sharp knife attached to it. The film's tagline reads, "Hell, any of them could have done it."
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRian Johnson
Written byRian Johnson
Produced by
Starring
CinematographySteve Yedlin
Edited byBob Ducsay
Music byNathan Johnson
Production
companies
Distributed byLionsgate
Release dates
  • September 7, 2019 (2019-09-07) (TIFF)
  • November 27, 2019 (2019-11-27) (United States)
Running time
130 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$40 million[2]
Box office$312.9 million[3]

Knives Out is a 2019 mystery film written and directed by Rian Johnson. Daniel Craig leads an eleven-actor ensemble cast as Benoit Blanc, a famed private detective who is summoned to investigate the death of the bestselling author Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer). Police rule Harlan's death a suicide but Blanc suspects foul play, and investigates to find the true cause of his death. Johnson produced Knives Out with his longtime collaborator Ram Bergman. Funding came from MRC and a multi-million-dollar tax subsidy from the Government of Massachusetts. Lionsgate managed the film's commercial distribution.

Johnson conceived Knives Out in the mid-2000s. Wanting to modernize the whodunit films of the mid-twentieth century, Johnson was inspired by his interest in movie adaptations of Agatha Christie's stories. Johnson then refocused on creating Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017). Development of Knives Out resumed the following year, when Johnson wrote the screenplay in six-to-seven months. He devised a framework of tonal shifts to escalate tension between the characters, and informed elements of the story with his experience of coping with culture war backlash to The Last Jedi. Principal photography on Knives Out began in October 2018 on a $40 million budget and ended that December. Location filming took place in suburban Boston. Nathan Johnson composed the film's classical score, which was inspired by his and Rian's favorite symphonic movie scores. Knives Out has been read as a work that investigates class warfare, wealth inequality, immigration, and race in contemporary American society.

Knives Out premiered at the 44th Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2019, and was distributed to American theaters on November 27 that year. The film was a critical and commercial success; the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute chose it as one of the year's top films, and it grossed $312 million. Critics praised the film's plot and actors, but criticized some aspects of the writing and performances. Knives Out was nominated for multiple awards, including three Golden Globes, a British Academy Film Award, and an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Knives Out is the first entry of a franchise that also includes Glass Onion (2022) and Wake Up Dead Man (2025).

  1. ^ "Knives Out". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on October 14, 2021. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  2. ^ Roxborough, Scott (September 7, 2019). "'Knives Out' Director Rian Johnson on Shifting From 'Star Wars' to Agatha Christie-Style Whodunnit". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 9, 2019. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  3. ^ "Knives Out". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Archived from the original on May 16, 2020. Retrieved September 30, 2021.