UPDATED: ‘Knives Out 2’ Adds Ethan Hawke, Production Starts

Ethan Hawke joins Knives Out 2

Knives Out 2 is finally shooting in Greece, and its cast keeps growing.

 

Last Monday, June 28, marked the first day of production for the Rian Johnson-directed/written and Netflix-backed sequel, which brings back Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc for (presumably) another murder mystery. The filmmaker shared a picture on Twitter to confirm the news:

 

 

News regarding its ever-growing cast have trickled down for the past few months, and now we’re getting confirmation via Daily Mail of two additional big names which have joined Johnson’s latest: Ethan Hawke and Jada Pinkett Smith. This is not a “believe us” situation either, as the British site has shared a bunch of clear-as-day photos taken on location. These two late additions to the massive ensemble totally flew under the major trades’ radar, so we can’t help but wonder about other names that haven’t been revealed yet.

 

Hawke was shooting Marvel’s Moon Knight in Budapest not long ago. Is he re-joining the comic book adaptation later to finish his work or is he done already? We’ll have to wait and see. I’m just glad to have him on board for this ride, as he’s (in my opinion) one of the most flexible and instantly charismatic actors working today, and something as playful as a Knives Out sequel sounds right up his alley. Another big film he has lined up is Robert Eggers’ The Northman (2022), which finished shooting back in December.

 

Jada Pinkett Smith is mostly producing both TV shows and films nowadays, but she’s also kept working her acting muscles in sizeable roles, such as Fish Mooney in Gotham. If the reports are true, we’ll see her later this year reprising his Matrix role of Niobe in the mysterious fourth installment of the saga.

 

Expect more set photos and last-minute casting news to pop up in the coming weeks.

 

UPDATE: It seems like Jada Pinkett Smith actually isn’t in the film and that’s Janelle Monáe in the pictures, among other cast members. Daily Mail mistook her, and most sites (including us) rolled with it due to the unclear nature of those specific photos. We apologize.