Jeremy Renner has joined the cast of “Wake Up Dead Man,” the third installment of Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out” series starring Daniel Craig as private investigator Benoit Blanc, according to an insider with knowledge of the project.
The role is Renner’s first in a film since his snow plow accident in 2023 that left him with 30 broken bones. The former Avenger is the sixth actor announced for the 2025 Netflix film, joining Josh O’Connor, Cailee Spaeny, Andrew Scott, Kerry Washington and Glenn Close. Production is set to begin in the U.K. in June.
Details on the plot have been kept secret, but in his tweet announcing the film’s title, Johnson suggested that “Wake Up Dead Man” would have a different tone than “Knives Out,” which made $310 million at the box office when it was released by Lionsgate in 2019, or its Netflix-produced 2022 sequel, “Glass Onion.”
“I love everything about whodunnits, but one of the things I love most is how malleable the genre is,” Johnson wrote. “There’s a whole tonal spectrum from Carr to Christie, and getting to explore that range is one of the most exciting things about making Benoit Blanc movies.”
Renner is best known for playing Hawkeye, one of the core Avengers during the Infinity Saga of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
His other notable credits include “Wind River” and “The Bourne Legacy,” plus a pair of Oscar-nominated performances in “The Hurt Locker” and “The Town.” On television, Renner had his own “Hawkeye” show on Disney+ and is currently starring in the Paramount+ series “Mayor of Kingstown” from Taylor Sheridan.
Deadline first reported the news.
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