The film screened at the Opening Night Gala for the 69th BFI London Film Festival has been announced
The British Film Institute (BFI) is back with another edition of the London Film Festival – now in its 69th year – meaning film fans in the capital have a big couple of weeks coming up in October. And the fest is starting with a bang as Rian Johnson’s third Knives Out film, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, is getting its international premiere at the Opening Night Gala, ahead of its December release on Netflix
The movie sees Daniel Craig return as super sleuth Benoit Blanc as he unravels another murder mystery, with the likes of Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Church amongst the ensemble cast.
Johnson has form with LFF, having the first Knives Out film premiere at the festival in 2019 and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery closing the festival in 2022. Speaking about this year’s premiere, Johnson said: “We’re honoured to be opening the BFI London Film Festival with Wake Up Dead Man. London is the birthplace of the golden age of detective fiction and it’s a thrill to be back!”
Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly is getting its UK premiere at LFF; the film follows George Clooney as the titular character, a famous movie star, and his manager Ron, played Adam Sandler, as they journey across Europe (with Laura Dern, Billy Crudup and Riley Keough also starring). You’ll also be able to catch Brendan Fraser’s turn as a struggling American actor living in Tokyo in the Hikari-directed Rental Family at the festival.
Other highlights include Chloé Zhao’s adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet, starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal; Daniel Day-Lewis in Anemone, directed by his son Ronan; two films from Richard Linklater, Nouvelle Vague and Blue Moon; Bruce Springsteen biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere starring Jeremy Allen White; Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone’s Bugonia; Sydney Sweeney starring in boxing flick Christy; and Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, starring Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi.
Julia Jackman’s much-anticipated fairytale 100 Nights of Hero, an adaptation of Isabel Greenberg’s graphic novel, starring Emma Corrin, Nicholas Galitzine, Amir El-Masry, Charli XCX, Maika Monroe, Richard E Grant and Felicity Jones, will be getting its UK premiere at the festival’s Closing Night Gala.
As well as plenty of premieres and standout titles, there are a range of other events happening at LFF, including talks from the likes of Daniel Day-Lewis, Chloé Zhao, Lynne Ramsey; workshops; and free short film screenings. If you’re keen, note down 16th September as that’s when tickets go on sale.
Key Information
Dates | Weds 8th – Sun 19th October 2025
Address | Various locations
For more information | bfi.org.uk
