Rian Johnson Explains Dislike for Glass Onion’s Subtitle

Rian Johnson, who directed Knives Out and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, has opened up about his frustrations with the newest entry’s title.

“I’ve tried hard to make them self-contained. Honestly, I’m pissed off that we have A Knives Out Mystery in the title,” Johnson told The Atlantic. “I want it to just be called Glass Onion.”

Johnson clarified that he understands the reasoning for including Knives Out in the title of subsequent films, but still prefers the series’ titles to feel more like new novels than direct sequels.

“I get it, and I want everyone who liked the first movie to know this is next in the series, but also, the whole appeal to me is it’s a new novel off the shelf every time,” Johnson explained. “But there’s a gravity of a thousand suns toward serialized storytelling.”

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is once again written and directed by Rian Johnson, who produced the film along with Ram Bergman via their T-Street Productions banner. The sequel follows Daniel Craig’s Detective Benoit Blanc as he travels to Greece to peel back the layers of a mystery involving a new cast of colorful suspects.

Joining Craig are Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy), Edward Norton (Fight Club), Janelle Monáe (Hidden Figures), Kathryn Hahn (WandaVision), Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton), Kate Hudson (Almost Famous), Madelyn Cline (Outer Banks), Jessica Henwick (Love and Monsters), and Ethan Hawke (Sinister).