Benoit Blanc is absent from the first forty minutes of Wake Up Dead Man, and writer and director Rian Johnson explains why. If you’re going into Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery expecting to see Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc right out of the gate, that is very much not the case this time around. The third film in the series and the final one in the two-film deal with Netflix that writer and director Rian Johnson signed in early 2021 is taking a lot of risks in a bunch of different ways. The tone and themes of this one are a lot darker than the previous two entries, and everything is complicated by the fact that we’ve got organized religion involved. All of the characters in the movie are dealing with different levels of complexity when it comes to faith and religion, which throws another wrench into solving the seemingly impossible crime. However, another way Johnson is taking a risk this time around is that Blanc doesn’t really enter the story until forty minutes into the film, or essentially at the beginning of the second act. Unlike the first two films, this time Johnson wanted to spend a significant amount of time digging into Rev. Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor) and how he came to be the suspect in the murder of Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin). Johnson spoke to GamesRadar+ about the decision and how this creative decision makes Wake Up Dead Man more like the classic mysteries it is based on. “It’s [got] a much more traditional murder mystery structure than the first two. I mean, this is kind of how most of Agatha Christie’s books work,” Johnson explained. “In the first act, you meet all the suspects, then the murder happens, and then the detective shows up. So this was kind of going back to basics; I thought it could be interesting to do that. But, also, because the theme of this movie is a little bit more complex or, not complex, but I just really wanted to get it right in terms of nailing the tone and nailing Jud’s character, what religion was to him having that first act to take that time and really set the table, not just with the suspects and with Jud’s point-of-view? It felt like it was worth it. And I thought as long as I can get an actor who can carry this movie for the first 40 minutes, so people aren’t saying, ‘Wait, where the hell is Daniel?’ I’ll be fine.” For the last two films, there has been someone who may or may not be involved with the murder that Blanc low-key adopts and drags around for the entire film, and this time it’s O’Connor’s Jud. Johnson has nothing but praise for Blanc’s sidekick this time around, saying, “[Josh is] just the best, man. With each of these movies the first, with Ana de Armas, the second with Janelle [Monáe], and now with Josh you know, they all have a protagonist who’s not Blanc, and the essential thing of that is it has to be somebody who the audience is immediately on board with. Having seen the myriad of other work that Josh had done, and the amount of range that he had, and then also honestly, when we met, I was just like, ‘This is somebody I want to be on the movie set with. I think that’s going to translate to someone the audience wants to spend the movie with.'” Wake Up Dead Man is currently having a limited theatrical run, and people on the internet are being very annoying about it. As previously stated above, the two picture deal that this film was part of was signed in March 2021 when the future of exhibition was in question following 2020 and heading into the first year of hybrid releases from major studios like Warner Bros. Both Johnson and Craig have said they are interested in doing more of these movies so there is the option for Johnson to try and move the series to another studio or back to Lionsgate, but we’ll have to see what happens. Wake Up Dead Man: Summary, Cast List, Release Date Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) returns for his most dangerous case yet in the third and darkest chapter of Rian Johnson’s murder mystery opus. When young priest Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor) is sent to assist charismatic firebrand Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), it’s clear that all is not well in the pews. Wicks’s modest-but-devoted flock includes devout church lady Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close), circumspect groundskeeper Samson Holt (Thomas Haden Church), tightly-wound lawyer Vera Draven, Esq. (Kerry Washington), aspiring politician Cy Draven (Daryl McCormack), town doctor Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner), best-selling author Lee Ross (Andrew Scott), and concert cellist Simone Vivane (Cailee Spaeny). After a sudden and seemingly impossible murder rocks the town, the lack of an obvious suspect prompts local police chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis) to join forces with renowned detective Benoit Blanc to unravel a mystery that defies all logic. Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Rian Johnson writes and directs Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, and assembles another all-star, award-winning cast. Wake Up Dead Man is the newest Benoit Blanc whodunnit from writer and director Rian Johnson, starring Daniel Craig, Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Church. Wake Up Dead Man will stream on Netflix on December 12th, 2025.
https://bleedingcool.com/movies/wake-up-dead-man-why-benoit-blanc-is-absent-from-the-first-act/