Rian Johnson Says Daniel Craig’s ‘Knives Out’ Character Is ‘Obviously’ Queer

In the “Knives Out” film series, James Bond star Daniel Craig plays a very different leading man in Benoit Blanc, a dandyish Southern gentleman detective with a passion for Stephen Sondheim’s “Follies” score. So, when director Rian Johnson was recently asked if the character was queer during a press conference with the cast at the London Film Festival, his answer was very blunt: “Yes, he obviously is.”

According to Insider, a brief scene in the second “Knives Out” film “Glass Onion” features Craig’s Benoit Blanc living with a man during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the heavy implication from the scene that the brilliant detective and the other man are in a romantic relationship, it isn’t explicitly stated within the film, and Blanc’s sexuality largely has no bearing on the rest of the feature, which sees the character travel to Greece to tackle a new murder case.

More from IndieWire

• 'Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery' and the Case of the Baffling Theatrical Strategy

• Rian Johnson's 'Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery' to Premiere in Theaters with Special Sneak Peek Event

“There’s nobody in the world I can imagine in bringing me more joy for Benoit Blanc to be with,” Johnson said about casting Blanc’s partner, who is played by an A-list actor in a cameo appearance. Craig, also at the press conference, chimed in: “No spoilers [but] who wouldn’t want to live with that person?”

Blanc’s second adventure, “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” is set to release in theaters and on Netflix this winter after premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival this September and closing the London Film Festival. The film is notably the first Netflix release to run in the three major U.S. theater chains — AMC Theaters, Regal Cinemas, and Cinemark — playing in roughly 600 theaters during its limited release.

The sequel to 2019’s successful “Knives Out” sees Craig joined by a completely new cast of suspects, with Edward Norton, Janelle Monaé, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Ethan Hawke, and Jackie Hoffman. Stephen Sondheim and Angela Lansbury are also confirmed to make cameo appearances in the film as themselves, in the final film appearances for both of the recently deceased Broadway legends.

In her review of “Glass Onion” out of TIFF, IndieWire executive editor Kate Erbland praised the whodunnit, writing that, “Johnson isn’t reinventing the mystery movie with ‘Glass Onion,’ but he is having a hell of a time lightly deconstructing it and reorienting it to suit his whipsmart script and central super detective.”

Netflix will release the film in select theaters on Wednesday, November 23, before releasing it on its streaming platform on Friday, December 23.

Best of IndieWire

• 50 Directors' Favorite Horror Movies: Bong Joon Ho, Quentin Tarantino, Guillermo del Toro, and More

• New Movies: Release Calendar for October 14, Plus Where to Watch the Latest Films

• The 200 Best Horror Movies of All Time

Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.