Daniel Craig is back in Knives Out sequel Glass Onion – and this time he’s investigating influencers
In his first film since his final outing as James Bond, Daniel Craig returns as stylish detective Benoit Blanc in murder mystery Glass Onion – a sequel to his 2019 hit Knives Out.
This time, it’s celebrities and influencers who are under suspicion as the movie takes a satirical look at the decadence of the very modern rich and famous.
But while the film jokes about online tropes and memes, its star says the virtual world is not somewhere he ever plans to have a profile. “Wild horses couldn’t drag me to a social media account,” Craig told Sky News.
The starry ensemble cast also includes Kathryn Hahn, Madelyn Cline, Edward Norton, Leslie Odom Jr, and Kate Hudson. Pic: John Wilson/Netflix
One of the messages of the film is thinking before we speak – which the actor says is a lesson for all of us, whether we’re online or not.
“I could learn it, we all could learn it; I mean, I’m not above any of it,” he said. “Probably one of the reasons I stay off social media is I would say things that I would regret and I don’t want to do that.
“I kind of want to try and have some thought before I speak – you’ll see in this interview that I don’t!”
Such was the success of the 2019 hit Knives Out that Netflix has picked up the franchise, reportedly paying £375m for this film and one more sequel.
The streaming platform has also broken form to show Glass Onion in all three of the America’s big cinema chains – something both Craig and writer-director Rian Johnson advocated for.
“I’m saying the obvious and we keep saying the obvious, but movies are a wonderful collective experience,” said Craig.
“It’s been something that’s important to us from the get-go and with the first movie, just seeing audiences experience it together and experience it together at home also – so there’s no wrong way to do it,” Johnson added.
Daniel Craig returns as stylish detective Benoit Blanc in murder mystery Glass Onion. Pic: John Wilson/Netflix
While Craig is returning, the rest of the very starry ensemble cast is new, and with filming taking place in a bubble during the pandemic the actors found themselves spending a lot of time together.
But despite so many A-listers being involved, there was seemingly no diva-like behaviour on – or off – set.
Kate Hudson, who plays Birdie Jay, a former supermodel turned fashion designer, thinks the casting was key.
“You want to bring that energy and that sort of sparkle with the characters and how we interact with each other to life,” she said.
“And that’s how you do it, you do that by bonding and creating environments that keep us close, which is what they did. And also casting people that are going to really like each other – that aren’t going to be disruptive.”
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Janelle Monae is another new addition to the cast. Pic: John Wilson/Netflix
Janelle Monae, who plays tech entrepreneur Andi Brand, credits Johnson with creating the right atmosphere.
“I was very shocked by just his calmness on set,” she said. “This is a big cast, a lot of personalities, things happen in production, technical difficulties, some things may not go as planned, and I never saw him lose his cool – and that helped us as the actors.
“And also, he would plan these murder mystery parties on the weekend so we’re filming a murder mystery whodunit, and then we’re playing like mafia, a murder mystery game just for fun, but all that stuff that we did outside of filming helped for us to just trust each other onscreen even more – and we really, really like each other.”
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is out on Netflix on 23 December
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John David Washington says he felt like he had to conceal his desire to act because of the external expectations of him being the child of Denzel and Pauletta Washington.
He tells Sky News it took some time for him to pursue an acting career, choosing football instead to assert his “independence” and create his own “identity” separate from his famous family.
“I’ve been wanting to do this my whole life… but I was hiding it,” he said.
“I had to conceal that passion based on my relationship to the world and more specifically, my folks being in the industry, so I chose ball.
“I loved ball, but I was sort of hiding my love for the arts under a helmet – literally an American football helmet – and so when I wanted to become an actor, when I decided to pursue it, that was a big shock to some people.”
The 40-year-old actor says when he decided to pursue an acting career, he kept the decision quiet.
“Some people didn’t know I was even pursuing it professionally until I got a job,” he said.
John David with fellow actor Danielle Deadwyler. Pic: David Lee/ Netflix
Since switching to acting, John David has starred in a number of notable roles including the protagonist in Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, Ron Stallworth in BlacKkKlansman and Joshua in The Creator.
He also led the stage revival of the 2022 Tony-nominated play The Piano Lesson on Broadway alongside Samuel L Jackson.
“He [Jackson] originated the role [I play] in 1987 at Yale with Lloyd Richards and August Wilson,” John David said.
“So it was of great importance for us to learn from both he and Michael Potts about August Wilson. It was a great blessing for me, I think, for all of us to have him present on set.”
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The Piano Lesson is the third August Wilson play to be adapted for the screen by Denzel Washington’s production company Mundy Lane Entertainment.
It is part of a pledge made by the Gladiator II actor to make all 10 of the playwright’s works into films.
The Netflix project is directed by another Washington family member, Malcolm, and stars most of the cast from the Broadway revival.
The Piano Lesson is Malcolm Washington’s directorial debut. Pic: Katia Washington/ Netflix
Set in 1936 Pittsburgh in the aftermath of the Great Depression, the film centres on a family heirloom, a piano, that is etched with the carvings of their family history made by their enslaved ancestor.
Malcolm says he started reading the play for the first time during the pandemic and immediately wanted to be involved in the film adaptation.
“I think with this movie, reclamation of story and identity is so central to the theme and it’s something that’s central to my life where I both acknowledge the fertile ground that I was raised on and who I am today.
“That’s what Wining Boy [played by Michael Potts] really is trying to do, he’s trying to build on that legacy, so that’s a story that really resonated with me.”
The filmmaker added: “I take all the gifts that my ancestors laid in front of me, and I’m trying to build something for the next generation to pass down – all of their gifts, plus mine to the next generation and let them build on it.”
Malcolm has dedicated his directorial debut to his mother, Pauletta Washington. Pic: David Lee/Netflix
Malcolm says his goal was to put family at the forefront of the production. By dedicating his feature debut to “Mama”, he is acknowledging the dedication and sacrifices that mothers make for the growth of their families.
“There’s so much pointing to my mother in particular, who inspired this adaptation so much. I see so much of her life in Berniece’s character [played by Danielle Deadwyler] – and that became a guiding light for me in this adaptation,” he said.
“As we made this thing and started reconnecting with our ancestors, my mum became like a kind of representative of them.
“She’s the matriarch of our family. She tells me about my grandparents and great-grandparents and the line that I come from, and I see them in her.
“And when the movie ends, I want people to kind of have that moment of reflection for their own lives. So in dedicating it to her, I was trying to dedicate it to all mums everywhere.”
The Piano Lesson is now available on Netflix.
Blockbuster Wicked has landed the largest opening weekend of 2024 at Vue International.
The film, starring Oscar-nominated actress Cynthia Erivo and Grammy-winning pop star Ariana Grande as Elphaba and Glinda, surpassed both Gladiator II and Paddington In Peru.
It has also had the largest opening weekend for a stage musical adaptation in the cinema chain’s history.
A boss for Vue International said it had seen a “sea of pink and green” over the weekend.
Ariana Grande (left) as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba in the film. Pic: PA
Pic: PA
Pic: PA
Released on Friday, Wicked is up 60% on Les Miserables’ opening weekend in 2012 and three times larger than the 2022 film adaptation of Matilda.
Founder and chief executive of Vue International Tim Richards said: “Vue has seen a sea of pink and green over the opening weekend of Wicked, which has shown continued high demand for the big screen experience.
“We saw record-breaking pre-sales for Wicked, followed by a chart-topping opening weekend – the biggest for 2024.”
The film is the first of two parts, with the second expected in November next year.
Wicked and Gladiator II – known together as Glicked – have reportedly failed to beat out Barbenheimer, Barbie and Oppenheimer, in its own opening weekend last summer.
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Glicked brought in £215m in worldwide ticket sales – with Wicked making the majority of that.
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