Director Rian Johnson is taking a break from his Knives Out series to make a '70s-style paranoid thriller. After the success of his 2019 murder-mystery, Johnson signed a deal with Netflix to make two more Knives Out films, and he fulfilled his obligation with Wake Up Dead Man, which hits the streamer in December. Now that he's made three films in the same genre back-to-back, Johnson is keen to work on something completely different. Sharing what he's doing next, the filmmaker told Empire magazine, "The most exciting thing right now is this idea I have in my head for the next thing I'm gonna make, and I think ultimately, that's all you can do, is just kind of follow your nose. If I had to define it genre-wise, I'd say it harkens back to the '70s paranoid thrillers. It's got a light sci-fi element to it." Johnson, who previously made the sci-fi films Looper and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, added that although he was "very happy" with his partnership with Netflix, he would like to support the theatrical experience again, as it's "very important" to him. "It's something I really believe in, and I feel like the reports of its death are greatly exaggerated," he continued. "We see that this year, with movies like Sinners - something genuinely exciting by one of our great new filmmakers, connecting with audiences in a huge way, and in a way where people want to get out to the theatre to see it. That's really exciting to me." While he's taking a step back from the Knives Out series, Johnson has previously insisted that he and Daniel Craig - who plays detective Benoit Blanc - are up for making more as long as audiences still want them. "For now, I'd be thrilled to keep making these for the rest of my life," he said during a recent talk at the London Film Festival.