Rian Johnson has his dream pick cast member for his next Knives Out Mystery

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Rian Johnson has his dream pick cast member for his next Knives Out Mystery News By Nick Staniforth published 30 November 2025

"She was born to be in one of these movies; she’s hilarious.” 

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Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery hasn’t even landed on Netflix yet, and already Rian Johnson has been thinking up one of his ideal suspects for whatever case Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc finds himself on next. The new film already has a whole host of stars, including Glenn Close, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Thomas Haden Church, and Josh Brolin. Should he ever get Blanc back on detective mode, though, Johnson thinks Oscar-winning legend Meryl Streep would be a prime candidate.

Speaking to IndieWire about the future prospects of the Knives Out franchise, the director admitted that “There are so many great actors I’d like to work with. But, yes, if you’re reading this, Meryl Streep, I feel like you’d slot into a murder mystery very well.”

She’s already proven she can handle whodunits, having appeared in three seasons of the hit show Only Murders in the Building. Factoring this in, it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to see her go toe-to-toe with Daniel Craig’s southern sleuth. Also, the fact that she’s Meryl Streep assures it wouldn’t be that much of a stretch for her to do anything, if we’re honest.

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• Knives Out 3 star heaps praise on Disney Plus series Only Murders in the Building as he explains cozy crime's growing popularity: "That juxtaposition is what people are into"
• First Knives Out 3 trailer sees Daniel Craig's Benoit Blanc return to solve a "holy" and "unsolvable" mystery
• After debuting to a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score, Knives Out 3 early reactions say it's "Rian Johnson's best and most ambitious Benoit Blanc installment yet"

Further pushing for his dream pick, Johnson told Variety, “I feel like Meryl Streep would kill it. She was born to be in one of these movies; she’s hilarious.”

One of the stars of Wake Up, Dead Man, Andrew Scott, has already spoken highly of not just Streep, but Only Murders in the Building as a whole, and how both the show and the movie that's now out in select theaters take a stab at the genre in their own way. In an exclusive interview with GamesRadar+, Scott said, “Only Murders in the Building is a great example, in that you've got the two best comedians in the world, and Selena Gomez and Meryl Streep; all these incredible comedic people. I suppose that juxtaposition of those two things is what people are into.”

You can see which is your favorite murder (ooft, that didn’t come out right) by watching Only Murders in the Building on Disney+ and Hulu now, and Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, which is in cinemas now, before arriving on Netflix worldwide on December 12. For more, check out our guide to all the other upcoming movies heading our way.

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Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Nick StaniforthSocial Links NavigationContributing Writer

Nick is a freelancer whose work can be found at Screen Rant, The Digital Fix, and Looper. He loves movies, TV, DC, and Marvel. He also believes that the best Robin Hood is still a talking fox.

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