The director explains howGlass Onionsets the tone for theKnives Outmysteries to come.
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The cast, save for Daniel Craigs gentleman sleuth, has been rotated out as well.
Watch the full conversation below, or read on for the transcript.
So I was thinking of it the same way that she did her books where its the same detective.
But the timelines still ambiguous?Yeah, the timeline shouldnt even matter.
Its really a whole new cast, a whole new mystery.
Its just kind of its own deal and hopefully its own reason for being.
Its not just turning the grinder handle on another one.
It is a meme machine.
I believe I saw two Chris Evans sweaters this past Halloween.
It had been lying there for a bit and getting a little dusty.
There was the idea that I could take a bigger swing.
You have an all-star cast, and every single new face that pops up is like youre leaning forward.
All to say it was a big surprise.
It hits all the pleasure buttons.
There was the additional thing withKnives Out, which was setting it in modern-day America.
That to me was kind of the thing that actually got me really excited.
That could be really interesting.
Im a huge Agatha Christie fan.
I love Kenneth Branaghs Poirot.
I think hes hilarious.
I just watchedSee How They Run.
I really, really loved that.
Ill just watch every whodunit that comes out.
The whodunit is this perfectly engineered machine to engage with culture.
But Christies work is so enveloped in this fog of nostalgia at this point.
Christie wasnt doing that; she was writing to her culture.
Thats why hes at this country house.
She wrote it in 1916.
Im just gonna talk literally about whatever were talking about in the moment.
Thats the other aspect of it: I love that candy coating.
A response to a very dark time.Incredibly turbulent, dark time.
it’s possible for you to see why that was appealing in the 30s.
it’s possible for you to see why that is appealing right now.
Given the state of 2022, is what youre saying.For instance.
Youve spoken about how murder mysteries are somewhat inherently about class.
Would you consider yourself a class warrior?Should I be sipping my drink?
I consider myself a class warrior!
But are you?I dont know.
We all are to a certain extent.
Were all hyperconscious of the exact same stuff thats in the air in the culture.
So withGlass Onionspecifically, what did you want to grapple with?
What was on your mind at the time you were writing it?
What were you paying attention to?
So thats an element of it.
We have YouTube influencers, and we have spon-con Instagram models, and we have SpaceX-style glamour scientists.
All of whom, by the way, are on a beautiful Greek island.
Would it be fair for me to pitchGlass Onionto friends as ItsMamma Mia!but with murder?kindly!
Is it too late to change the poster?
There were so many times on set where Madelyn Cline would be like, Were doingMamma Mia!
Did you pick Greece?So I wrote this in 2020 when we were all in lockdown.
The first movie was also very much in the tradition of the English-countryside cozy-house murder but in New England.
And it isnt Christie butThe Last of Sheila.
This is a murder mystery from the 70s that was co-written by Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins.
Its the most 70s cast of all time.
you’ve got the option to see we take a huge page from them for the setup.
Its an incredible cast.
I guess the answer is always for me at least no.
When it comes to the actual mystery element ofKnives OutandGlass Onion, its like a watch.
How do you figure out the mystery element?
Where do you start?
Its a lot of things.
This is how I always diagram stuff out before I start writing.
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But no matter what Im writing, I need to work that way.
I need to know the whole road map before I start writing.
Not every writer does that.
Ive heard famously that the Coen brothers dont.
I was just doing a roundtable thing with Martin McDonagh, and he said he just starts typing.
Thats like a magic trick.
Benoit Blanc is a constant in the past two films.
Has he changed as a character?No.
I think it can be kind of a trap to start thinking that the detective is your protagonist.
Thats actually a mistake.
That cant be the detective.
I mean, my God!
Shes just incredible, and shes having so much fun in this part.
She is just a joy to watch.
And Mia Farrow gives a tremendous performance in this movie; shes so good.
I dont know, its just delicious, man!
Everything from the costume design to the beautiful space that theyre in and every single one of those actors.
Look at Maggie Smith!
Look at the tuxedo shes wearing!
Look at Bette Davis!
Oh my God, its incredible.
it’s possible for you to also see the gears working.
you’re able to see all of that in play here.
But coming back to the real point: Angela Lansbury.
Is Peter Ustinov your favorite Poirot?Ustinov is my favorite Poirot.
Specifically inDeath on the Nile.
I do love him inEvil Under the Sun, but its a little bit more of an indulgent love.
Hes a little bit broader in that movie, a little goofier.
I think inDeath on the Nile, he struck the perfect balance.
To me, when I read Christie, I find Poirot hilarious.
Thats the reason that I love Ustinovs take on the character.
He quotes philosophers, he makes prognostications, he steals food from other peoples cabins.Hes an incredibly funny character.
I get into fights a lot with Patton Oswalt about this, who is a big Finney booster.
Every time I bring up Ustinov, hes like [dramaticallysighs].
Is the murder mystery always grounded within wealthy spaces?
She was twisting and working and melding genres.
Think aboutEndless Night, which is basically a gothic romance.
Murders, which is a serial-killer thriller.
You think aboutAnd Then There Were None, which is a slasher movie basically.
She was essentially finding ways to surprise herself and surprise the audience.
Im fascinated by the Columbo-throw in detective versus the Benoit Blanctype detective.
InColumbo, the first act is always the crime itself.
ThenColumboenters, and its about seeing him unravel that and figuring out how hes going to do it.
Intuitively, you would think thats not interesting, but its riveting.
Its not a serialized thing where its one story over an entire season.
Shes the central character, and youre going to get a whole new cast every single episode.
Some of the best storytelling weve seen in the past however many years has been this longform serialized TV.
I felt that pull of getting back to self-contained stories.
Although it isnt, really!
What character are you worried about?
What are the dramatic stakes?
As opposed to making you lean back and stroke your chin.
A roller coaster as opposed to a crossword puzzle is what I like to say.
I also love endings.
True endings, you know?
Not just dot-dot-dot question-mark endings.
Its really fun having built ten episodes of a show, each one of which has an actual ending.
Now youve made a second one.
But in an intellectual way, they give you a chessboard.
They give you and the audience a shared, defined chessboard.
That, to me, is a fun meta-conversation to have.
Are you a big rules person?I dont know.
Remember inTronwhen they find the glowing river and drink it?
Its like, Oh, heres the source.
But reading Dashiell Hammetts books felt like being punched in the stomach.
It was trying to get to that kind of feeling that those books gave me.
Not the memory of it as an adult but the actual feeling as a kid.
It was fucking terrifying.
It was feeling like anything was at play and the good guys were losing.
Is there a genre that you havent tackled that youd really like to?Musical.
Oh my God, I wouldloveto do a musical.
Are you kidding me?
I got to tell them both Im a big musical-theater nerd.
Okay, final questions.
Benoit Blanc: Were there alternate names?No.
But I feel like I owe credit or an apology to my French tutor at the time, Benoit.
Thats where I took that from.
But Kenneth Branaghs no lightweight.
But hes like, I just came off the last James Bond.
You know I am actually kind of buff, right?
I can take my shirt off.
I was like, Eh, I dont think so.
Ill leave it a surprise for people to see whether he does.
InKnives Out, Benoit is famous.
ButThe New Yorkerhas a rule that you cant.
So it would have been Alex Ross.
I thought that would have been very funny.
Lastly: Fuck, marry, kill famous fictional detectives.Oh God.
Or maybe I should fuck Jessica Fletcher?
I have a feeling shes secretly freaky.
And then kill who would I kill?
He has a detective named Gideon Fell, whos currently my favorite whodunit detective.
Hes modeled on G.K. Chesterton.
So sure, Ill kill him.
