Rian Johnson Expresses Disappointment In Limitations For Wake Up Dead Man's Theatrical Release

Rian Johnson Expresses Disappointment In Limitations For Wake Up Dead Man's Theatrical Release Daniel Craig looking curious in a church in Knives Out Wake Up Dead Man By  Abigail Stevens Published 59 minutes ago Abigail is an editor for ScreenRant, currently writing and editing movie news. You may also have seen her thoughts on animated television, musical theater, and fantasy literature in Paste Magazine, Fantasy Hive, or The Oxford Blue. She has also written SR lists and op-eds covering movies, TV, and books as well. She is an English major through and through, having graduated with a B.A. from UC Santa Barbara and an MPhil from Oxford University. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Rian Johnson's Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery arrives in theaters this month, the second movie in the series to be distributed by Netflix and get a limited theatrical release, though the director is disappointed with the rollout. The Knives Out series debuted in 2019 with its titular first movie, following Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) investigating a strange murder.

The first two movies both garnered strong reviews, thanks to their twisting murder mystery plots and engaging satire of the rich and powerful, portrayed by an excellent selection of A-listers. While Knives Out was distributed by Lionsgate and got a pre-pandemic traditional theatrical run, Netflix took over with the second installment, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.

Glass Onion was in movie theaters for one week at the end of November 2022, and dropped on Netflix a month later. Now Wake Up Dead Man is expected to have a two-week theatrical run, from its premiere in select theaters on November 26 to its Netflix release date of December 12. This is typical for most Netflix movies that the streamer wants to be eligible for awards consideration.

However, director Johnson expressed his disappointment that Wake Up Dead Man will not be shown at AMC theaters. "For those asking, sadly AMC would not play the movie," says Johnson via X, "it's going to be Landmark, Alamo, and other chains. And it can absolutely stay in theaters after the 12/12 [Netflix] drop if there's demand - it's up to the theaters to decide."

See Johnson's post below:

Netflix and AMC have historically disagreed on the terms of Netflix's brief theatrical releases, meaning many of its movies have not been available at the major theater chain. However, AMC did make an exception for Glass Onion; the chain also recently participated in the Halloween weekend re-release of KPop Demon Hunters.

It looked like the two companies might be entering a new era with this most recent theatrical event, but things apparently fell through when it came to the highly anticipated murder mystery threequel. This news will come as a disappointment to some moviegoers, when an AMC may be the most conveniently located cinema for them, or they are an AMC Stubs subscriber.

Wake Up Dead Man will follow Benoit Blanc as he investigates the "classic impossible [murder]" of an intimidating minister (Josh Brolin), working with another, younger priest (Josh O'Connor) who is suspected by everyone else when he disagreed with the way his superior preached their religion. Wake Up Dead Man looks promising, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 95%.

Wake Up Dead Man's whodunit ensemble also includes Glenn Close, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Church. Though it faces these limitations at the box office, many members of the franchise's fandom will likely still be determined enough to see it theatrically.

6/10

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

Like Follow Followed PG-13 Comedy Drama Mystery Release Date November 26, 2025 Runtime 140 minutes Director Rian Johnson Writers Rian Johnson Producers Ram Bergman, Rian Johnson 9 Images Wake Up Dead Man imageDaniel Craig looking inquisitive as Benoit Blanc in Wake Up Dead Man A Knives Out MysteryDaniel Craig walking in a church as Benoit Blanc as light shines on him through a window in Wake Up Dead Man A Knives Out MysteryJosh O'Connor in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out MysteryGlenn Close screams as Martha Delacroix in Wake Up Dead ManJeremy Renner as Dr. Hart in Wake Up Dead ManAndrew Scott signs books in Wake Up Dead ManDaryl McCormack as Cyd in Wake Up Dead ManDaniel Craig Leaning Up Against a Tree in a Cemetery in Knives Out Wake Up Dead ManClose

Cast

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• Daniel Craig Benoit Blanc
• Josh O'Connor Rev. Jud Duplenticy

Franchise(s) Knives Out Genres Comedy, Drama, Mystery Powered by Expand Collapse

• Movies
• Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

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