Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery reportedly has a much larger budget than the previous films. The first Knives Out garnered critical acclaim and became a box office hit upon its 2019 release, leading Netflix to buy the exclusive rights for two sequels. The first sequel, Glass Onion, debuted on Netflix in 2022 after a limited theatrical release and also received positive critical reception. Led by a star-studded cast, Wake Up Dead Man is slated for a 2025 release.
According to industry insider Jeff Sneider on X/Twitter, Wake Up Dead Man‘s budget is five times larger than the $40 million budgets of Knives Out and Glass Onion, which would put the third film’s budget at $200 million. Check out Sneider’s post below:
Netflix originally spent $469 million to acquire the rights to the Knives Out sequels. The reported budget of Wake Up Dead Man would be nearly half of what the streaming service paid for the sequels in the first place.
Why Is Wake Up Dead Man So Expensive?
The Hefty Budget Comes At A Surprising Time
Wake Up Dead Man‘s reported budget is a surprise at a time when Netflix and the other streaming services are focused on cutting costs, leading to the cancellations of many series and films, and even having some of them removed from their platforms. It is also surprising considering that Glass Onion only needed a $40 million budget to become a popular streaming hit for Netflix. While Wake Up Dead Man‘s budget has yet to be confirmed, the escalating costs may relate to new filming locations.
With
Glass Onion
being one of Netflix’s most watched original films, the streamer may be more lenient with
Wake Up Dead Man
‘s budget than it is with other projects.
The first Knives Out primarily took place inside the Thrombey mansion and was filmed in Boston, while Glass Onion took place on a private island, and filming expanded to Greece and Serbia. The third installment may be continuing to expand the shooting locations on an even more international scale, which could contribute to the significant rise in cost. Benoit Blanc’s next mystery may not be tied to a single location and could be a case requiring him to travel across the globe.
Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc is the only character to appear in all three
Knives Out
films.
Another factor could be the film’s cast. The previous films also had impressive casts, but Wake Up Dead Man arguably has the most prestigious and expensive cast yet, featuring Daniel Craig, Glenn Close, Mila Kunis, Kerry Washington, Josh Brolin, Jeremy Renner, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, and Thomas Haden Church. With Glass Onion being one of Netflix’s most watched original films, the streamer may be more lenient with Wake Up Dead Man‘s budget than it is with other projects.
Source: Jeff Sneider (X/Twitter)