Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista is joining Rian Johnson's Knives Out sequel.
However, Bautista's role in the upcoming who-done-it case to be solved by Daniel Craig's Benoit Blanc is being kept under wraps at this time, as confirmed by THR.
After news of his casting announcement broke, Bautista posted on Twitter, "Booyah!! #DreamChaser."
While Bautista's role will remain a mystery, for now, it's been previously confirmed that Knives Out director Rian Johnson is returning for the sequel to direct and produce the film alongside his and Ram Bergman's T-Street production company.
Daniel Craig is also set to return as the rambling, but sharp-as-a-scythe detective Benoit Blanc, along with an entirely new cast of characters.
Although Johnson has remained quiet about what Knives Out 2 will be about, he confirmed in February 2020 that the film will follow an Agatha Christie-like model, showing Blanc tackling an entirely new mystery, as opposed to being a direct sequel to the hit 2019 film, stating, "The idea would be Daniel Craig as the detective — whole new cast, whole new case, whole new location. It’s just like doing another Hercule Poirot mystery like Agatha Christie did."
In March, Netflix announced that it purchased the rights to the as of yet untitled Knives Out sequel, and a subsequent film in the series. The streaming platform spent close to $450 million to acquire the rights to Knives Out 2 and Knives Out 3 for its platform. Rian Johnson's Knives Out was a surprise box office hit, bringing in $311 million dollars at the global box office on a budget of $40 million. Johnson's Knives Out also earned him an Oscar nomination for 2020's Best Original Screenplay.
At the time of this writing, no additional casting announcements for Knives Out 2, nor its release date has been shared.
Written, produced and directed by Rian Johnson, Knives Out stars Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Lakeith Stanfield, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Ana de Armas, and Jamie Lee Curtis, Jaeden Martell, Katherine Langford, Frank Oz, Toni Collette, Christopher Plummer, and Riki Lindhome. The film is now available on Digital HD and Blu-ray and 4K UHD. Knives Out 2 does not yet have a release date.