Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson has signed on to direct Daniel Craig in a film project called Knives Out. The film is described as a contemporary murder mystery and Craig will play detective assigned to solve the crime. The movie will feature a “classic whodunit style, infused with Johnson’s original voice that informed films from Brick to Looper.”

Johnson will direct the movie before he dives into production on his original Star Wars trilogy and Craig will make it before he returns to the role of James Bond in Bond 25. 

Johnson talked to Deadline a bit about the film and says it was inspired by his love of Agatha Christie. “He has been an Agatha Christie nut since his teens, sparking to her richly drawn characters and the twists and turns that drove her whodunits. For a decade, he has been framing in his mind how he would make his own murder mystery, and over the summer he scripted his contemporary version of the locked door mansion murder mystery.” Johnson had this to say in a statement about wanting to work with Daniel Craig:

“I have been a huge fan and always wanted to work with him and as I worked on the script, trying to get it right, Ram and I were wringing our hands over who could be the detective. Then, serendipitously, we heard Daniel might have a small window, and it worked out. He’s an actor of extraordinary range, and we are looking forward to the fun of finding that modern detective, and collaborating with Daniel on creating a new Poirot.”

As a fan of Johnson’s earlier films like Brick, The Brothers Bloom, and Looper, I’m excited to see that he’s going to get to make an original film before he jumps back into the Star Wars universe. I’m sure it will be a fun flick. I really dig Johnson’s filmmaking style.