‘Knives Out 2’ Will Reunite Dave Bautista With His ‘Spectre’ Co-Star Daniel Craig
Dave Bautistais heading to Greece for a murder mystery.
TheGuardians of the GalaxyandArmy of the Deadactor is the second major actor to sign on toKnives Out 2, writer/directorRian Johnson’s follow-up to his 2019 hit. This will mark a reunion between Bautista andKnives Out 2starDaniel Craig, since the two previously worked together on the 2015 James Bond filmSpectre, in which Craig played the British super spy and Bautista played a hulking silent brute named Hinx.
Deadline brought us this Dave BautistaKnives Out 2casting news, but unfortunately there is no word about what type of character he’ll be playing. While the instant expectation in the fan community might be that he could be playing a villain because of his size and resume, Bautista has shown considerable dramatic range when he’s been given the opportunity, notably as a bespectacled farmer in Denis Villeneuve’sBlade Runner 2049, so I wouldn’t put it past Rian Johnson to cast him against type here.
Johnson and his producerRam Bergmanrecently signed a huge deal to makeKnives Out 2andKnives Out 3at Netflix, which will have Daniel Craig leading each installment as Southern-fried detective Benoit Blanc. Johnson, Bergman, and Craig stand to make$100 million eachfrom the deal, which shifted the rights to the franchise from Lionsgate theatrical to the streaming service.
Bautista is involved with several high-profile movies coming up. He leads the ensemble of Zack Snyder’s zombie heist filmArmy of the Dead(also for Netflix), he reunites with Villeneuve for his mega-anticipated adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi novelDune, and he reprises his role as Drax the Destroyer in Marvel Studios' upcomingGuardians of the Galaxyholiday special,Thor: Love and Thunder, andGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Knives Out 2is set to begin production in Greece sometime this summer.
