Yahoo Movies Janelle Monáe Joins ‘Knives Out’ Sequel
Janelle Monáe is the latest addition to the ensemble cast of Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out” sequel for Netflix.
Monáe joins Daniel Craig in the film, who reprises his role from the original whodunit movie as detective Benoit Blanc. Edward Norton and Dave Bautista are also set to appear in the new installment, written and directed Johnson. Johnson and Ram Bergman will also produce the film under their T-Street banner.
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Netflix had no comment on Monáe’s casting.
In March, the streamer bought the rights to “Knives Out 2” and “Knives Out 3” for $468 million, after the original “Knives Out” — starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans, Toni Collette, Ana de Armas and the late Christopher Plummer — earned more than $300 million at the box office. The 2019 murder mystery also garnered an Oscar nomination for Johnson’s original screenplay.
Details surrounding the new project are being kept under wraps, including whether or not any of the original film’s cast will join Craig for the new mystery, which is planning to start production in Greece this summer.
An eight-time Grammy nominee, Monáe burst onto the Hollywood scene with breakthrough performances in 2016’s “Hidden Figures” and the best picture Oscar winner “Moonlight.” Since then, the multi-hyphenate entertainer has starred in film and television projects including “Harriet” opposite best actress nominee Cynthia Erivo, “Welcome to Marwen,” “The Glorias,” the lead role in the second season of Amazon’s “Homecoming” and last year’s thriller “Antebellum.”
In addition to her work onscreen, Monáe is also the CEO of the Wondaland arts society multimedia company, which includes the Wondaland Pictures production banner and Wondaland Records label.
THR first reported news of Monáe’s casting.
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