Rian Johnson Hopes ‘Glass Onion’’s Next Twist is a Return to Theaters

Another layer in the “Glass Onion in theaters” situation has been peeled back. It’s a problem that most movie producers would kill (or at least organize a highly structured murder party) for. People are out there ready to throw down money to see this film!

Rian Johnson, the writer-director of the Knives Out sequel with a ridiculously stacked cast (Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Noah Segan, Jackie Hoffman, Dallas Roberts, the voice of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and a number of other surprises like Yo-Yo Ma) went on the record with Insider and said he’s actively pursuing a way to get the elaborate comedy-mystery back into theaters after its successful one week sneak over Thanksgiving. 

“Any theaters we can get it into at any point I’m pushing for,” Johnson said. “I want more people to have the opportunity to be able to watch it.” He added that he strongly doubted this would happen until the movie was available on Netflix for at-home streaming on December 23, if it happened at all. He also applauded the company, and the theater chains, for the success of the November run.

Taking a cue from Johnson’s script, let’s hit pause here and back it up for anyone a little flummoxed. The first Knives Out, hardly a big-budget movie (the estimate is $40 million), scored a whopping $313 million at its global box office when released by Lionsgate, the smallest of the big distributors, or the biggest of the small distributors, depending on your point of view. It also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, and remains one of those movies that’s pretty much impossible to dislike. Netflix came to Johnson and producer Ram Bergman with essentially a Blanc check (see what I did there?) for two sequels. The reported number was $450 million, with nice bonuses for Craig, Johnson, and Bergman. 

Most of Netflix’s movies these days get a showcase theatrical release at New York City’s elegant one-screen theater, The Paris near Central Park and at The Bay at Palisades Villages in Los Angeles. But after Glass Onion’s big debut at the Toronto Film Festival, a special one-off deal was announced between Netflix and major exhibitors AMC, Regal, and Cinemark. The in-demand movie would play in ordinary movie theaters for a week, making the chains some money, and increasing buzz for Netflix. Is everyone happy? No, of course not.

The release, which was substantial but not a “wide” release at approximately 600 theaters, made about $15 million. Fans who couldn’t make it in time (or didn’t have a screening near them) began griping that they missed out, and others simply wondered why any company would leave money on the table. (Exhibitors speaking to trades confided that, yes, they wished the crowd-pleasing Craig and co. were around for more than a week.) 

Speaking with Insider, Johnson said when December 23 comes, the movie “will be available to theaters, and we’re exploring what form that can take.” He added, ”I’ll take as much as I can possibly get. But a lot of that has to do with what the theaters are willing to do, what makes sense.”

Johnson continued, “I really want to show that this can happen and this can be a huge success. And that when it hits the service, people will still turn up, and it will be huge on the service. That those two things can complement each other. Because I want more next time. I want more theaters. I want it for longer.”

As one who has seen the picture with a full house, yes, it’s absolutely something that is best seen that way. Of course, Rian Johnson wants that option for people. (I can confidently report both hooting and hollering.) Then again … it was a streaming company that backed the money truck up to his house. It’s a conundrum!

For their part, Netflix’s Reed Hastings said in a recent interview that, indeed, money was left on the table by not giving Glass Onion a typical open-ended wide release, but he stood by their decision. 

“It’s a promotional tactic like film festivals, and if it works well, we will do more of it,” he said. “We are not trying to build a theatrical business, we are trying to break through the noise.”