Knives Out fans already have one major complaint about Wake Up Dead Man
NetflixKnives Out 3 finally has a title, but the sequel’s release has one caveat that not everyone is happy with.
It’s been a long and winding road for fans of Rian Johnson’s Knives Out films — the whodunit mystery series that took the world by storm when the original came out in 2019. Devotees of Benoit Blanc have been awaiting news on the highly-anticipated Knives Out 3, and now they have it. But there’s one thing that’s already got folks mad, and it all has to do with Netflix.
Namely, they’re worried the movie will be a Netflix-exclusive release again. While the first film in the series proved itself to be a smash hit at the box office, the 2022 sequel, Glass Onion, released on the streaming service with only a limited theatrical run.
On May 24 2024, it was announced that the new movie would be titled; Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. Also included in the announcement was the detail that the film would be releasing in 2025. Although it’s not confirmed whether it’ll be a Netflix debut, the platform’s logo and no mention of a theatrical release means fans have been quick to share their disappointment.
As one X user wrote: “Still wild to me that the first one of these made $300 million on a $42 million budget and Netflix was like ‘Wow what a successful franchise we’ve just hoarded for ourselves…why don’t we never give any of these a wide release ever again)’.”
“They keep complaining about movie theaters being dead but put the movies that are perfect for a theater release on Netflix instead,” said another.
One user wrote: “Was happy until i saw the last sentence. Did Glass Onion’s complete fall off mean nothing to you?” While a fourth added: “Netflix’s greediness is single-handedly destroying the film industry actually.”
“Curious to see if this one gets a wide theatrical release,” said one comment. “I heard Rian was pissed about Netflix’s handling of Glass Onion (which was a huge hit for them). He holds all franchise rights so if he’s not happy with their rollout of WUDM any further movies could go elsewhere.”
Of course, the movie will land on the streaming service one way or another, but whether this will include a limited theatrical run has yet to be confirmed. While Knives Out earned $315 million at the box office, Glass Onion had a small-scale theatrical release before landing on the streamer, and only earned $13 million in comparison.
Wake Up Dead Man will release in 2025. For more, check out the all the new movies and the new A24 movies coming out next, as well as the most anticipated movies of 2024.