Director Rian Johnson discusses his new film, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, with fellow Director Jon Watts in a Q&A at the DGA theater in Los Angeles. In the conversation, he discusses finding and casting Actor Josh O’Connor, the effort behind crafting and lighting the sets, and how his relationship with faith influenced the film.

The film finds Blanc teaming up with an earnest young priest to investigate a perfectly impossible crime. When the leader of a small town church with a dark history dies from seemingly impossible circumstances, Blanc must discover who in the rogues gallery of his congregation committed the crime, and how.

See photos and a summary of this event below:

https://www.dga.org/events/2026/january2026/wakeupdeadman_qna_1225

The Director’s Cut - A DGA Podcast

Directors Guild of America

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery with Rian Johnson and Jon Watts (Ep. 594)

DEC 31, 202531 MIN
The Director’s Cut - A DGA Podcast

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery with Rian Johnson and Jon Watts (Ep. 594)

DEC 31, 202531 MIN

Description

Director Rian Johnson discusses his new film, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, with fellow Director Jon Watts in a Q&A at the DGA theater in Los Angeles. In the conversation, he discusses finding and casting Actor Josh O’Connor, the effort behind crafting and lighting the sets, and how his relationship with faith influenced the film. The film finds Blanc teaming up with an earnest young priest to investigate a perfectly impossible crime. When the leader of a small town church with a dark history dies from seemingly impossible circumstances, Blanc must discover who in the rogues gallery of his congregation committed the crime, and how. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/events/2026/january2026/wakeupdeadman_qna_1225