Filming on director Rian Johnson's highly anticipated whodunnit sequel, Knives Out 2, will begin in the next few months. Production is reportedly eyeing a start date of June 28, with the shoot scheduled to begin filming in Greece. This news comes following the recent announcement that popular streaming service Netflix is set to acquire not just Knives Out 2 but also Knives Out 3, for the eye-watering price of $400 million.

Released in 2019, the first Knives Out proved to be a delightfully old-school whodunnit, thrilling audiences with its star-studded cast and intriguing Agatha Christie-style murder mystery plot. The caper begins when renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, leading to the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) being enlisted to investigate.

From Harlan's dysfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan's untimely death. The movie features a hugely talented ensemble cast that any sequel will no doubt struggle to top, including Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, and Christopher Plummer.

Since the first movie's success, audiences quickly called for a sequel, with writer/director Rian Johnson confirming earlier this year that Knives Out 2 is indeed happening, but perhaps not quite as expected. While not much is yet known about the specifics of the sequel, Johnson has stated that it's best not to think of the movie as Knives Out 2, but rather the continuing adventures of Daniel Craig's world-famous private detective, Benoit Blanc.

"It's been such a mindf**k, because I sat on the idea for the first one for 10 years. And with this one, I'm starting with a blank page," Johnson said of his approach to the follow-up. "It's not really a Knives Out sequel. I need to come up with a title for it so I can stop calling it The Knives Out Sequel because it's just Daniel Craig as the same detective with a totally new cast."

Following the news of Netflix's involvement, it has also now been reported that casting will being immediately, with production no doubt looking to match the impressive ensemble of the first Knives Out. Other than Daniel Craig's heavily accented investigator, it is unknown who, if anyone else, from the first movie will return. With filming set to begin in Greece, it sounds like Knives Out 2 will take Blanc out of the United States and throw him into an overseas adventure, which would go some way to achieving the separation that Johnson is aiming for.

"In my mind, I don't even think of it in terms of like a sequel," Johnson said last year, before comparing Benoit Blanc to another famous detective. "To me it's just, ever since we started working on this I was like, 'Look, if we can keep this going, the same way Agatha Christie wrote a bunch of Poirot novels. I mean, do that with Blanc and keep making more mysteries.' Whole new cast, whole new location, whole new mystery. It's just another Benoit Blanc mystery and it seems like there's just so many different things you can do with it, you know? It seems like it'd be really fun."

This comes to us courtesy of Deadline.