Daniel Craig ‘incredibly proud’ to open BFI London Film Festival with Knives Out

James Bond star Daniel Craig has said he is “incredibly proud” to be opening the BFI London Film Festival with the third Knives Out film.

Craig, 57, stars in the whodunnit trilogy and reprised his role as the famed private detective, Benoit Blanc, in its latest instalment, Wake Up Dead Mean: A Knives Out Mystery.

The Netflix movie kicked off the 69th BFI London Film Festival at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall on Wednesday night.

Speaking about the opening night, Craig told the PA news agency that he was “incredibly proud”.

He said: “It’s like bringing it here at the London Film Festival, in my hometown, showing it to my people.”

Created by American filmmaker, Rian Johnson, the film also stars Emmy-winning actress Glenn Close, Challengers star Josh O’Connor, and That ’70s Show actress Mila Kunis.

Craig said: “I’m looking around me going, I can’t believe they’re all in this film.”

Filmed in the UK but set in upstate New York, the film follows Benoit as he travels to a small church with the task of unravelling a murder that defies all logic.

Despite the film’s more dark and gothic tone, Craig said it was always a priority to make a “funny, entertaining movie” as supposed to something “dark and brooding”.

Knives Out director and creator, Johnson, echoed Craig’s feelings adding that the London premiere felt like “a homecoming”.

He said: “It’s quite an honour. It’s really special to be here in London at the opening. We shot the film here in London. So much of our cast and crew is from here. So feels like a homecoming.

“I’ve worked a lot in London, in the UK. I love the crews here. I love being here. I love filming here. So it was a pleasure to be back.

“It feels almost like a hometown to me at this point.”

The third instalment follows on from 2019’s Knives Out and its sequel, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which closed the 66th edition of the festival in 2022.

Speaking about the films, Johnson said: “It was really important to me to set them in our present day. They’re not like little timeless things set in the past. I was like, ‘Okay, if we’re gonna do a murder mystery, let’s do one that’s set in 2025 in America and let’s talk about the stuff that’s kind of in the air.’

“Entertainment is the primary thing, that audiences have a good time seeing them, but I think audiences also have a good time kind of seeing a movie that reflects the world around them.

“If audiences keep enjoying them and we can keep thinking of ways to make them that feel fresh and don’t feel like just churning the crank and repeating ourselves, I would be thrilled to keep making these for the rest of my life, with other stuff too.”

Known for its star-studded casts, previous films saw the likes of Kate Hudson, Janelle Monae, Ana De Armas, Chris Evans and Jamie Lee Curtis appear in the whodunnit series.

Speaking about the cast, Johnson said: “We’ve been really lucky with all three of these movies to just get incredible ensemble casts. And I mean, this one, it’s really, really a special group of people.

“The other thing is, because everyone who shows up for one of these movies is showing up to be part of a true ensemble, there’s no egos. There’s none of that. They’re showing up to play with other actors and you can feel that on set, the joy that they take.

“It feels a bit like being back in like theatre camp, a little bit. It’s a pretty joyous atmosphere.”

The third film sees Johnson reunite with Craig whom he praised for his ability to keep sets “fun”.

He said: “It’s actually such a key ingredient, because it means it’s going to keep the scenes alive and make the movie feel like it’s actually alive, and that’s something that he’s so good at.”

Wake Up Dead Mean: A Knives Out Mystery will be released to Netflix on December 12 2025.