Rian Johnson has officially kicked off production on his latest movie, Knives Out. This is his first project since the release of The Last Jedi in 2017 which, while very successful financially and critically, proved to be quite divisive amongst the fanbase. With a franchise like that comes immense pressure. After all the backlash and online chatter, Johnson decided to take on something with far less pressure in the form of an original murder mystery he wrote, which is now underway.

We only learned of this project's existence in early September and Rian Johnson made quick work of getting it going. It didn't hurt matters that he was coming off of making a Star Wars movie and got Daniel Craig attached to star before shopping the script for Knives Out to possible distributors. Rarely do high-profile movies come together this quickly, but yet, here we are. Johnson took to Twitter, sharing a photo of the clapper, the whole picture in black and white, signifying that filming is underway.

"Aaaaaaaaaaand we're off"

Since James Bond 25 was delayed by a few months with the departure of director Danny Boyle, it freed Daniel Craig up to squeeze this in before he has to suit up as 007 once again. It's actually turned out to be a movie for people who are looking to take the pressure off a bit. Chris Evans, who plays Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has been starring in the biggest movies on the planet for years now. With this, he gets a chance to be in something a little less intense, at least in terms of expectations. Jamie Lee Curtis has also signed on, who just reprised her role as Laurie Strode in the new Halloween. No doubt, that also came with a lot of pressure and this could be a nice pallet cleanser for her.

Lakeith Stanfield (Get Out), Don Johnson (Django Unchained), Michael Shannon (The Shape of Water) and Ana de Armas (Blade Runner 2049) round out the cast. Beyond those who have been tapped to star, not much has been revealed in terms of plot, but Knives Out has been described as a classic whodunit murder mystery that will take place in the modern day. Daniel Craig will play the detective role. Outside of that, the other roles have mostly been kept under wraps.

No matter what one's individual opinion is on Star Wars: The Last Jedi, it was a very successful movie, bringing in $1.3 billion at the box office. For those who maybe didn't like Rian Johnson's take on a galaxy far, far away, it's worth looking at his previous work, which includes movies like Brick and Looper. So having him do something from his own mind again, especially with a cast like this, has a lot of potential. Knives Out is expected to arrive sometime in 2019. You can check out the first set photo from Rian Johnson's Twitter account for yourself below.