Lionsgate has bought distribution rights to Daniel Craig’s murder mystery “Knives Out” and set a Thanksgiving release date of Nov. 27.
MRC financed “Knives Out,” directed by Rian Johnson — best known for “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” Lionsgate will also distribute the pic worldwide.
The movie came together during the Toronto International Film Festival in the wake of director Danny Boyle exiting James Bond 25, which delayed shooting on the Bond pic and cleared Craig’s schedule.
The “Knives Out” cast includes Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield, Ana de Armas, Don Johnson, Katherine Langford, and Christopher Plummer.
Johnson directed from his own script and is producing with partner Ram Bergman through their new, yet-to-be named company. Johnson is also creating a new “Star Wars” trilogy for Disney.
“We’re very excited to be in production on ‘Knives Out’ and can’t wait to bring it to the big screen with great partners like MRC and Lionsgate,” Johnson and Bergman said. “MRC put their trust in us when they first partnered with us on this film, and Lionsgate truly champions and empowers the artist to tell the story they want to tell so we couldn’t be in better hands.”
Lionsgate’s 2019 film slate includes “Hellboy,” “John Wick: Chapter 3,” the Seth Rogen-Charlize Theron comedy “Flarsky,” and Roland Emmerich’s World War II action adventure “Midway.” The news about “Knives Out” was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.