Dave Bautista is going to face off against Daniel Craig once again, except this time there will be less metal nails and more southern accents. Deadline is reporting that Dave Bautista is joining the cast of Knives Out 2, the sequel to Rian Johnson’s shockingly original 2019 breakout hit, which introduced the world to Craig’s southern detective Benoit Blanc. It isn’t known who Bautista will play or really much of anything about the sequel. Bautista is the first cast member, outside of Craig, to join the film, but the movie will likely play host to another stellar ensemble cast eventually. [Update 2:45 p.m. ET: Edward Norton has also joined the cast.]
Craig and Bautista played off against each other in the James Bond film Spectre, in which Bautista played a woefully underutilized henchman with metal nails that he dug into people’s skulls. The pair had a fight in a train but didn’t get much time to play off each other. Knives Out 2 should give Craig and Bautista more of a chance to banter given the clever dialog and screenplay Johnson is known for and Knives Out delivered. The twisting, Agatha Christie-style plots will give Bautista plenty of room to flex his surprisingly strong acting chops.
Netflix did not confirm the casting, but the film is set to start shooting this summer in Greece so casting should be ramping up right about now. The streamer paid a mint to get the rights to both Knives Out 2 and Knives Out 3, seeing a burgeoning franchise based on the cases of Benoit Blanc in the same vein of those of Hercule Poirot or Sherlock Holmes. Johnson is set to write and direct both films with Craig on board as well.
