Rian Johnson, director of the Knives Out franchise, has confirmed that Danial Craig’s lead character, detective Benoit Blanc, is gay.
It has been reported that Johnson confirmed the sexuality of his lead character during a recent press conference at London Film Festival, where he appeared to promote the follow-up to Knives Out, titled Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Insider asked the director about Blanc’s sexuality after noting a scene in which Craig’s character appears to be cohabiting with another man.
Responding to the question of his homosexuality, Johnson replied: “Yes, he obviously is,” referring to the as-yet-unknown actor who plays Blanc’s partner, the director added that “there’s nobody in the world I can imagine in bringing me more joy for Benoit Blanc to be with”.
The forthcoming sequel follows the acclaimed 2019 original. Following the crime mystery theme, Daniel Craig reprises his role as Detective Blanc, who travels to Greece to solve his latest case. He will star alongside a reshuffled ensemble consisting of Kate Hudson, Kathryn Hahn, Jessica Henwick, Edward Norton, Dave Bautista, Janelle Monáe, Leslie Odom Jr. and Madelyn Cline.
Glass Onion will be released in cinemas on November 23rd before dropping to Netflix exactly a month later (on December 23rd). Last March, the streaming service acquired the rights to produce two sequels for Knives Out, both starring Craig.
The film debuted last month at the Toronto International Film Festival, with early reviews praising it as “so much fun” and “an immensely enjoyable movie which is at least as funny as the first outing, if not more”.
Johnson has shed more light on the title, explaining, as some may have guessed, that it’s inspired by The Beatles’ 1968 song of the same name: “I’m always fishing for something fun that Blanc can grab onto as an overwrought metaphor that he can beat to death.
“This is all in plain sight from the very start. So, the idea of glass came to me, something that’s clear. I’ll be very honest. I literally got out my iPhone and searched my music library with the word ‘glass.’ There’s got to be some good glass songs.
“I was like, ‘Oh, is it a glass fortress? Is it a glass castle? Is it a glass man?’ The first thing that came up, because I’m a huge Beatles fan, is ‘Glass Onion.’”
