Imagine Knives Out without Daniel Craig’s Southern-twanged detective, Benoit Blanc. As wild as it sounds, it almost happened! Director Rian Johnson revealed that Craig’s casting as Blanc was a stroke of luck, saved by a last-minute twist in Bond scheduling.
When Johnson sat down with The Hollywood Reporter, he shared that Knives Out came together on an unusually tight timeline. In January 2018, he had just begun writing the murder mystery script. By mid-year, he had a working draft, and by September, it was finalized. But there was one significant hurdle: casting Benoit Blanc. Johnson didn’t dare have any one actor in mind for Blanc, fearing scheduling would be a roadblock. “When I’m writing, I’ve learned that you’ll always get your heart broken if you have your eyes set on somebody because the schedule will always not work out,” Johnson said, keeping his options open.
Still, Craig was at the top of Johnson’s list. And in a moment of pure luck, Bond had to push its schedule back by three months—just enough of a window to allow Craig to hop over to Knives Out. “This was not like his injury; this was before that. It was just a logistic thing; they pushed their schedule, so he suddenly had a window open,” Johnson said. Craig signed on right away, and six weeks later, filming was in full swing.
Johnson couldn’t have imagined it happening so fast. With a ten-year-old idea and barely a year from writing to filming, Knives Out was a quick, whirlwind project. Johnson’s “blank slate” approach to casting was a blessing because Craig’s unexpected availability brought Benoit Blanc to life in the most iconic way possible.
Lucky for us, Craig’s journey as Blanc didn’t end there. The movie’s success led to a greenlit sequel. Johnson treated it as “just another Hercule Poirot novel,” promising a whole new cast of characters and a fresh mystery while keeping Craig’s Blanc as the sharp-witted investigator at the center.
So next time you rewatch Knives Out, remember that Craig’s Benoit Blanc almost didn’t make it in. It took a perfectly timed schedule change, some luck, and some quick moves by Johnson and Craig to make it happen. And with that, the quirky, unforgettable detective Benoit Blanc became the extraordinary face of Knives Out.
For more such updates, check out Hollywood News.
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