Knives Out was one of the biggest original hits of 2019, which paved the way for Lionsgate to green light a sequel in a hurry. Director Rian Johnson is currently working on Knives Out 2, which will bring back Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc for another mystery. But will any other characters from the first installment be back? That remains to be seen, but Michael Shannon has cast doubt on a return as Walt.
I recently had the chance to speak with Michael Shannon in honor of his new movie The Quarry, which recently arrived via On Demand. During the conversation, I asked Shannon if he would hypothetically be interested in reprising his role in Knives Out 2, should the opportunity present itself. Shannon played Walt Thrombey, the son of Christopher Plummer’s Harlan Thrombey. Here’s what Shannon had to say about it.
“Oh, I would work with Rian again in a heartbeat, but I don’t think he’s planning on bringing Walt back. I mean, maybe, who knows? Somewhere down the line Rian will make a different kind of movie that I’ll be able to participate in. But I don’t think he’s bringing any of those Thrombey characters back, I don’t get the impression.”
Rian Johnson had previously said that the idea would be to focus on a new mystery, which would bring in a new cast and an entirely different setting. That always made it seem unlikely that any members of the Thrombey family would come back. Granted, it sounds like Michael Shannon is just sharing his general thoughts and isn’t basing this on conversations he’s had with Johnson about the movie.
This does, however, leave the door open for a future collaboration between Rian Johnson and Michael Shannon. The actor expressed a great deal of affection for the filmmaker in our conversation and seemed eager to work with him again on a different project, if something ever came up. That speaks to Johnson’s reputation as a filmmaker, as he was able to wrangle together an A-list ensemble for Knives Out long before it became a $300 million box office success. As far as other projects are concerned, Johnson is currently still developing a trilogy of Star Wars movies for Lucasfilm. Perhaps Shannon might look good with a lightsaber in his hand?
Last we heard, Rian Johnson was working on the screenplay for Knives Out 2 and the studio was eager to get the project moving. Currently, production is shut down for pretty much all movie and TV projects for the foreseeable future, so it’s difficult to say when it will begin filming at this point, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted as any further details are made available. In the meantime, you can catch Michael Shannon in The Quarry, which is available via On Demand now, with the Blu-ray/DVD release set for June 16 from Lionsgate.
