Josh O’Connor and Cailee Spaeny are reportedly in talks to join Daniel Craig in the ensemble for Rian Johnson’s next Knives Out film, Wake Up Dead Man.
Considering the exorbitant amount that Netflix paid Rian Johnson to make two Knives Out sequels, it figures that we have to see at least some of that reported $400m on the screen. That was certainly true in 2022’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery which boasted one of that year’s most stacked ensemble casts. As the third film in the series, Wake Up Dead Man, moves towards production, we’re already looking forward to a string of high-profile names circling the project.
According to What’s On Netflix, we might have our first two names already. Josh O’Connor and Cailee Spaeny are reportedly in talks to join the cast for the upcoming film. O’Connor is one of the stars of Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers, not to mention portraying Prince Charles in The Crown.
As for Spaeny, she recently appeared in Alex Garland’s Civil War as well as headlining Sofia Coppola’s biopic of Priscilla Presley, Priscilla. Johnson might therefore have signed up two names that qualify for the ‘hot young talent’ part of the cast, but more established names are likely to follow, too.
Read more: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery review | Daniel Craig takes a bath
On that note, the next two names aren’t confirmed, so we’ll stash these firmly in the rumour department for now, but the outlet is also claiming that Tom Hardy and Lindsey Lohan are in talks to sign up for the project. There’s two stars who could bring some fun – not to mention a dash of mayhem – to proceedings.
There’s bound to be more names on the way, too. The last film in the series boasted an ensemble which included Daniel Craig, Dave Bautista, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson, Madelyn Cline, Jessica Henwick, and Ethan Hawke.
We’ll bring you more updates on Wake Up Dead Man as we hear them.
UPDATE: 19:00: A previous version of this article stated O’Connor and Spaeny’s casting had been confirmed. At the time of writing, it has not. We have gathered our team of sub-editing elves in the library and will be making an arrest accordingly.
