Knives Out 2 is officially happening

Lionsgate is already planning a sequel to its critically acclaimed whodunnit Knives Out, starring James Bond star Daniel Craig as Southern private investigator Benoit Blanc.

Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer revealed on Thursday that the studio was already planning a follow-up, with production due to start soon, according to Deadline.

Knives Out has attracted both critical and commercial success, raking in nearly $300 million at the worldwide box office and receiving nods from both the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards (the film is nominated for the Best Screenplay Oscar).

Director and writer Rian Johnson has previously spoken about how he would be keen to helm a sequel, adding that "the idea of continuing it on seems like it would just be a blast" but that he would first need to write the script.

Asked whether he'd like to star in a Knives Out sequel, Craig told Entertainment Weekly: "Sure. I’d be over the moon. I mean, I’d do anything for Rian. If he writes something, I’ll do it. Of course I will. Why wouldn’t I? I had a ton of fun doing it."

The film, which also stars Marvel's Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Michael Shannon and Jamie Lee Curtis, follows a wealthy American family whose patriarch, Harlan Thrombey, a famous crime writer, appears to die by suicide. When the police and Benoit Blanc visit the family mansion, they meet the various wealthy relatives and Marta Cabrera (de Armas), Harlan's nurse, to deem whether the patriarch could've been murdered.