‘Knives Out 2’: Rian Johnson Casts ‘Murder On The Orient Express’ Actor & Oscar-Nominee Leslie Odom Jr.

The cast for Rian Johnson’s Knives Out 2 continues to grow as The Hollywood Reporter revealed yesterday that Oscar-nominee Leslie Odom Jr. (One Night In Miami) has landed a role in the whodunit sequel opposite Daniel Craig. It’s quickly becoming a game itself trying to figure out who will Rian will add next, which is almost as fun as when the filmmaker and the Knives Out Twitter account asked film fans to come up with a title for Knives Out 2.

He’ll be joining a stacked cast with actors such as  Dave Bautista (Blade Runner 2049, Spectre, Guardians of The Galaxy, Army of The Dead), Edward Norton (Fight Club, The Incredible Hulk, Rounders, Moonrise Kingdom), Janelle Monae (Moonlight, Hidden Figures), and Kathryn Hahn (WandaVision) already on the film’s the call-sheet.

Despite this being a sequel, the Greece setting will make it difficult for characters from the first film to appear as there has been signs that Daniel Craig’s detective Benoit Blanc is going to be working on a completely different case and group of murder suspects.

Leslie is an interesting pick considering that he appeared in 20th Century Studios’ Murder On The Orient Express, based on the Agatha Christie novel that Johnson has been attempting to homage with Knives Out and it’s untitled sequels. I guess this means that other actors from Murder On The Orient Express and Death On The Nile are fair game.

Rian and Daniel made a historical deal with Netflix for the next two films for a massive $400 million, the two earning $100 million each. The streamer is aiming to turn Knives Out into a their own high-end franchise aimed directly at an adult audience and it’ll be interesting to see if they pursue further installments beyond the next two movies.

Netflix hasn’t given Knives Out 2 a release date but will begin shooting next month in Greece.

KNIVES OUT – The circumstances surrounding the death of crime novelist Harlan Thrombey are mysterious, but there’s one thing that renowned Detective Benoit Blanc knows for sure — everyone in the wildly dysfunctional Thrombey family is a suspect. Now, Blanc must sift through a web of lies and red herrings to uncover the truth.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Regina King To Direct Monster Movie ‘Bitter Root’ For Legendary & Producer Ryan Coogler – Based On Image Comics Property

It doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing Regina King direct Blade, The Vampire Hunter or the new black Superman film that is being developed by Warner Bros./Bad Robot, she’s decided another comic book project altogether.

After directing the Oscar-nominated film, One Night In Miami, she’s landed a high-profile feature adaptation of the Image Comics property Bitter Root for Legendary and producer Ryan Coogler. The news comes from The Hollywood Reporter and sounds a little similar to Lovecraft Country.

Bitter Root is set in 1924 during the Harlem Renaissance and tells of the Sangeryes, a family of once-great monster hunters, who face an evil that descends upon New York.

Screenwriter Bryan Edward Hill (Power Rangers) is behind the film’s script.

It’s unknown when Legendary wants Bitter Root to begin shooting but this likely means she could be too busy to tackle films for Marvel Studios or DC Films at this time. Allowing other names floated by trades to tackle Blade and Superman as it looks like the two projects are eyeing a production start in 2022.

Ryan Coogler is about to begin shooting on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever this July with a spinoff series for Disney+ also in the works.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER