On March 31st, Netflix decided to sign a $450 million plus deal with director Rian Johnson and partner Ram Bergman to work with and release 2 sequels on their platform considering the overwhelming success of the first “Knives Out.”

The award-winning mystery film was released back in 2019 and was a big hit, earning $311 million at the global box office. It’s no surprise that Netflix signed this deal, but many are wondering if the price they’re paying is much too high. 

“I mean I don’t think that any movie or show is worth $450 million, but that’s coming from someone who doesn’t have that type of money to spend or that amount of people to entertain. When you’re a streaming platform with competitors left and right, you’re gonna want to up the game and get the best quality stuff you can get, even at that enormous price,” said Ella Hodges (‘22). 

Initially, in February 2020, the Lionsgate CEO announced that they were planning to make a sequel to “Knives Out.” However, almost 2 months and $450 million later, Johnson changed his mind and Agatha Christie was the one to report the news. Netflix outbid both Amazon and Apple for this deal.

“I feel like people expect a lot from Netflix, and the last thing they want to do is let down the subscribers that keep them in business. It’s without a doubt a lot of money, but it’s important to keep in mind that Netflix spends billions and billions of dollars each year anyways,” said Hodges.

On Johnson’s end, the decision was built on the unlikelihood of a sequel released in theaters due to the pandemic, the promise of full creative control of the sequels, and the idea of walking away with upwards of $100 million from this decision. 

The only requirements were that Daniel Craig must star in the sequels and each sequel must have the budget of the 2019 movie, which was in the $40 million range. 

“The deal benefits everyone–excluding Netflix’s competitors–in the end, so I personally think it’s worth it. Sure it’s not going to do as well as the first movie considering the cast is going to be almost completely different and sequels don’t usually do better than the originals, but I have high hopes for it,” said Rylie Palfalvi (‘22).

With this decision just recently made, production is set to begin soon, but the sequels won’t be out for a while.