During the Coronavirus pandemic, there have been quite a few changes to the film industry that would've been unthinkable before lockdown happened. Plenty of studios have drastically shifted their release strategies, with Warner Bros. and Disney, in particular, embracing their proprietary streaming platforms as a way to release films without the luxury of nationwide theater showings. Even so, the acquisition of 2 Knives Out sequels by Netflix has been rather shocking to both industry insiders and general audiences alike.
The original Knives Out was produced and released by Lionsgate, and the film was a smash hit. Receiving almost universal praise, Rian Johnson's whodunnit film was incredibly successful critically and at the box office, leading Lionsgate to confirm that they would be moving ahead with a Knives Out sequel shortly after the first film premiered.
Then, of course, the pandemic happened, and things went quiet. That was to be expected, of course, since the project was only in the early stages and nothing could be filmed due to lockdowns. Plus, most audiences were more focused on projects like Black Widow and Wonder Women 1984, and how they would navigate the pandemic. So, the theoretical Knives Out sequel mostly flew under the radar.
Until March of 2021, that is, when news broke that Lionsgate wouldn't be making the sequel after all. Instead, Rian Johnson and Netflix had struck a $469 million deal that meant the two planned Knives Out sequels would be made with and for Netflix. The deal reportedly gives Johnson a large amount of creative control over the projects and guarantees that Craig will continue to star, and the films will have comparable budgets to the original.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, everyone was quite happy with the Lionsgate deal until the pandemic hit, and suddenly the viability of theater releases became a much riskier gamble. With the new circumstances in play, the leaders on the project decided to start shopping around and suddenly studios like MRC and Lionsgate were struggling to compete, unable to offer the kind of deals that may have once secured them the project. As one insider stated, it was the kind of deal that "could not have happened a year ago."
The pandemic has certainly shifted the landscape of distribution, possibly forever, as lockdowns have accelerated the streaming wars far more than studios likely expected. In a market where a previously theater-exclusive film IP can become the property of a streaming platform first and foremost, it seems that the line between 'blockbuster film' and 'streaming exclusive' is getting blurrier and blurrier.
The Knives Out sequels will be released on a yet-to-be-announced date.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter