Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc Goes Dark in First “Wake Up Dead Man” Teaser, a Horror-Tinged “Knives Out” Murder Mystery

By The Credits | June 2, 2025

“This was dressed as a miracle…it’s just a murder. And I solve murders.”

So says Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) in the middle of a minute-long teaser for his return as the southern detective in Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, the third film in Johnson’s whodunit franchise. The teaser is a much darker affair than the previous two Knives Out installments, the last of which was a sun-baked mystery set on a Greek Island, while the first was a cozier affair situated at a grand, Gothic revival mansion. Johnson’s going for something keenly different in Wake Up Dead Man, which Johnson has billed as Benoit Blanc’s most dangerous mission ever. The vibe of the teaser is closer to horror than anything we’ve seen in the previous two films, with a church serving as a key location.

You’ll be hard pressed to glean too much plot from the teaser, and Johnson, Craig, and the rest of the ensemble cast are keeping mum. Johnson has once again assembled a crack cast to surround Craig, including Kerry Washington, Josh Brolin, Cailee Spaeny, Josh O’Connor, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Glenn Close, Andrew Scott, Thomas Haden Church, Daryl McCormack, Kerry Frances, Annie Hamilton, and Marcus Edward Bond.

Check out the teaser below. Wake Up Dead Man arrives on Netflix on December 12.