Daniel Craig Ignites the 2025 BFI London Film Festival with ‘Wake Up Dead Man’ Premiere
Daniel Craig kicked off the 2025 BFI London Film Festival into an opening-day frenzy on October 8 with the world premiere of Rian Johnson’s highly anticipated third Knives Out film, Wake Up Dead Man. Deadline reports, Set in London’s Royal Festival Hall, the event was filled with glitz and glamour and a stellar cast that was accompanied by a prestigious audience. Fans poured in raves at the return of Craig as the incisive and humorous investigator Benoit Blanc in what promises to be another thrilling mystery.
Director Rian Johnson and an all-star cast – Daniel Craig, Daryl McCormack, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Cailee Spaeny, Kerry Washington, and Andrew Scott – took to the stage. While the stars Josh O’Connor and Glenn Close were conspicuously missing, the atmosphere was still brimming with anticipation. As mentioned in Netflix, The audience was packed full of big names – Greta Gerwig, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Edgar Wright – all of which made it patently clear just how much cultural weight this film carries.
Daniel Craig Charms Fans with His Wit and Ease as Benoit Blanc
The Hollywood Reporter says, When Daniel Craig was asked whether he went further each time he returned to the role of detective Benoit Blanc, he dismissed the idea with a playful shrug. “Don’t overthink it”, he joked about going with the simple approach, which just made him more endearing and got laughs from the crowd. His cool ease and sense of fun seemed to be underlining how much he relishes playing that role and also that, sometimes, all you need to overpower an audience is a little humour.
Josh Brolin on the excitement of getting to play the villain of the film, a priest with a dark side, and what it’s like to work with Rian Johnson as a writer/director. He truly came alive at the chance to portray this very dark, multi-faceted character. CBR reports, Kerry Washington touched on the amazing energy on set and how it was an inspiration among the cast to bring the best out of each other creatively and comedically while filming. The feeling was very goodnatured, and they were all kidding and sharing ideas in one way, or another, very regularly. They all seem like a fun crew to work with!
Kerry Washington and Cast Reveal the Fun, Creative Vibe Behind the Scenes
The two-hour crime comedy had the audiences in stitches, making it a hit at screenings. Hilarious to watch from beginning to end, The Nice Guys is a breath of fresh air among the standard embarrassing drivel that seems to make up most of the comedic offerings at the cinema at present. Owen Gleiberman of Variety even said it was possibly the sharpest film in the series and called it “nearly pitch-perfect” for fans of murder-mystery fun. Sounds like a must-watch!
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Plot Overview & Thematic Preview
The story follows Benoit Blanc as he investigates the complex network related to Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), a charismatic priest with an unusual congregation. Enter O’Connor’s character, a priest-in-training, who is young and idealistic, and not a little bit naïve to the real-life experiences he stumbles into, and volatility ensues. His arrival stirs the pot, tensions rise, and Wicks’s control of the town is challenged. With secrets bubbling beneath the surface and allegiances shifting, Blanc has his hands full pulling the truth together in this nosey mystery.
Johnson has called it his most personal Knives Out movie, saying, “It’s about issues of faith and religion. I was brought up in a religious setting. While I don’t identify as that anymore, I definitely still feel strongly about it”.Themes of faith, redemption, vengeance and forgiveness are examined by the director, in what critics dub the franchise’s “most complex mystery”.
Conclusion
The highly anticipated follow-up to Knives Out, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is scheduled to make its big screen debut on November 26, 2025. If you’re more of a stay-at-home movie fan, don’t worry — you won’t have to wait to stream it, as it is coming to Netflix worldwide on December 12, 2025. Prepare for another murder mystery!
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