In three Knives Out instalments, Daniel Craig plays Benoit Blanc, and Rian Johnson, who is the franchise's director, says the star was his choice for the titular role.
"When we were first trying to get 'Knives Out' made, Daniel wasn’t available. He was doing the Bond movies," he tells IndieWire.
"He was my first choice for it, but he was a hard “not available” because he was on the Bond movies. So, we went to other people for it. We got a bunch of “no”s about Benoit Blanc," the director continues.
Rian, however, does not reveal the names of the actors he approached for the Benoit role. "Yeah. There’s an alternate universe, I’m not going to tell you the people we went to."
As Wake Up Dead Man, a third Knives Out movie, arrives on Netflix on Dec 12, Rian delves into its themes: politics and religion.
"And that dialogue between them, I have both of those guys inside me. I have both of those halves of me, basically. And to let those two halves talk was what was personal about the movie, I guess," he shares.
"Just meaning that it’s not important to me because I had a message to get across, God forbid. But that it’s a topic I really care about and I wanted to do a movie that was both an entertainment, but took topic seriously," Rian concludes.