‘Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery’ Takes TIFF Audience to Church With Rapturous World Premiere

“Can I get an ‘Amen?’” Rian Johnson bellowed while welcoming a packed house to the world premiere of his third “Knives Out” installment “Wake Up Dead Man” on Saturday night at the Toronto Film Festival.

The crowd generously complied, but their early shouts of “amen” paled in comparison to the laughs and cheers that echoed through the theater for much of the gothic thriller’s two-hour runtime. Indeed, the new “Knives Out” movie nearly brought the house down.

Then, as the credits rolled, TIFF moviegoers welcomed the all-star cast — Daniel Craig, Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Kerry Washington, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Andrew Scott, Daryl McCormack and Cailee Spaeny — to the stage with a roar of applause for the Q&A.

What many in the audience didn’t know was that the troupe of A-listers were also seeing the movie for the first time. And they were delighted by the enthusiastic reception, each one gushing about the camaraderie on set and Johnson’s sure-handed guidance.

All three “Knives Out” movies have launched at TIFF, Johnson noted when he and the “Wake Up Dead Man” cast visited the Variety Studio before the screening.

“To be doing this third one, to be here with these people, with this cast, I mean, it’s the best. I can’t wait to show the movie,” Johnson said, eagerly anticipating the Saturday night screening.

In the latest installment, Craig returns as detective Benoit Blanc, taking on his most dangerous case yet. He reflected on wrapping up the mystery movie trilogy — at least for now.

“Like most things in this business it’s a constant surprise,” Craig saidm remembering when Johnson’s first script came his way. “We made it with no ambition whatsoever. Just let’s do the best movie we can. And it became something, and then here we are.”

But Craig didn’t definitively retire the character. “These movies have to work at a very, very high level, otherwise there’s no point in doing them,” he said. “So as long as they’re doing that, we’ll keep doing them.”

Translation: The case may not be closed for Benoit Blanc.

More to come…