And for his next trick… After bringing back the all-star murder mystery with Knives Out, and the murder-of-the-week TV show with Poker Face, Rian Johnson is set to revive another lost art: the director’s commentary.
Netflix will release a director’s commentary for Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery today, Feb. 23, at 1 p.m. EST. The news was announced on the official Glass Onion Twitter account, along with a fetching new graphic poster for the movie.
Sharing the news, Rian Johnson said, “COMMENTARY TRACK APPROACHES! Sorry it took a minute but it’s a good one I think.”
Director’s commentary tracks were a key selling point of DVD and Blu-ray film releases during physical media’s heyday, and classics of the genre — such as Paul Thomas Anderson’s extremely candid commentary for Boogie Nights, or David Fincher’s hilariously dry take on Gone Girl — are still spoken of fondly. But as streaming has taken over and the budgets for physical releases have dwindled — and as some directors have (sadly) realized that sometimes it’s better to keep your mouth shut — the practice has fallen by the wayside, and a fascinating window into the filmmaking process has been closed.
Johnson, though, is both a nostalgist and a very open director who loves to talk about his process — as well being a producer with the clout to sell Netflix two murder-mystery movies for $450 million. If Rian Johnson wants a director’s commentary, he gets one.
