Janelle Monae to star in 'Knives Out' sequel

American singer-actor Janelle Monae has joined the ensemble cast of ace film director Rian Johnson's 'Knives Out' sequel for Netflix.

As per Variety, Monae joins actor Daniel Craig in the film, who reprises his role from the 2019 whodunit movie as enigmatic southern detective Benoit Blanc. Apart from Monae and Craig, Edward Norton and Dave Bautista are also set to appear in the new installment, written and directed Johnson.

Johnson is also set to produce with Ram Bergman under their T-Street banner. Plot details are being kept under wraps but the follow-up will be another star-studded murder mystery anchored by Craig's character Blanc.

The original 'Knives Out' starred Craig, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ana de Armas, Christopher Plummer, Michael Shannon, and Toni Collette, among many others.

In March, Netflix bought the rights to 'Knives Out 2' and 'Knives Out 3' for USD 468 million, after 'Knives Out' earned more than USD 300 million at the box office. The 2019 murder mystery also garnered an Oscar nomination for Johnson's original screenplay.

It is currently unclear whether or not any of the original film's cast members will join Craig for the new murder mystery, which is planning to start production in Greece this summer.

An eight-time Grammy nominee, Monae burst onto the Hollywood scene with breakthrough performances in 2016's 'Hidden Figures' and the best picture Oscar winner 'Moonlight'.

Since then, the 35-year-old star has featured in film and television projects including 'Harriet' opposite actor Cynthia Erivo, 'Welcome to Marwen', 'The Glorias', the lead role in the second season of Amazon's 'Homecoming' and last year's thriller 'Antebellum'.

In addition to her work onscreen, Monae is also the CEO of the Wondaland arts society multimedia company, which includes the Wondaland Pictures production banner and Wondaland Records label.

(ANI)