The world is about to get its first look at Rian Johnson's highly anticipated whodunnit sequel Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery thanks to the Toronto International Film Festival which kicks off today. With the film set to make its debut as part of a loaded lineup for the event, those who can't be in attendance can still get a peek at the upcoming film. After months of buildup, Netflix has dropped the first trailer for the film, officially marking the return of Daniel Craig as the super sleuth with a southern drawl Benoit Blanc.
Following the widespread success of Johnson's first mystery in Knives Out, the follow-up departs from its predecessor to instead center on Blanc as he heads out to the Mediterranean private island of tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) to "peel back the layers of intrigue" in a new mystery. After a party involving Bron's friends ends up with someone dead, Blanc must put his detective skills to the test once more to find the culprit among a colorful new cast of characters that includes a YouTube sensation, a fashionista, and a senate hopeful among others.
The new trailer features Detective Benoit Blanc on a luxurious island populated by the eccentric characters played by the film's star-studded cast. A series of shots showing various puzzles accompanies Blanc's narration that whatever mystery is occuring on this island is not necessarily a game for everyone involved. A sinister shot of an ornate gun underscores the reason for Blanc's presence. Murder, of course.
Johnson put together another star-studded ensemble around Craig with Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson, Ethan Hawke, and Dave Bautista all attending this party. The director also wrote the film and was joined as a producer by his frequent production partner Ram Bergman. Between prepping his murder mystery for its debut, Johnson has also been hard at work setting up his own television debut with the mystery anthology Poker Face featuring a star-studded cast of its own.
There's plenty of hope that Johnson can strike gold twice with the sequel film. The original Knives Out subverted expectations with its mystery and social commentary centering around its main character Marta (Ana de Armas), creating a modern update on the classic murder mystery. Glass Onion looks to fully adopt the traditional whodunnit angle with its own gentleman detective as it's made to stand on its own with the only connector being Blanc. It was previously reported that this will be the first of two films Netflix made a deal for centering on the detective and, with Blanc fully stepping into his role as the franchise's answer to Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot in this installment, it remains to be seen how Johnson will continue to throw audiences for a loop.
Glass Onion will premiere at TIFF, which runs from September 8 through 18, before arriving on Netflix just in time for the holidays on December 23. Check out the trailer below.