Detective Knight (film series)
The Detective Knight film series consists of American action films, directed by Edward John Drake from original stories he co-wrote with Corey Large. The series details the police investigations of veteran Detective James Knight, played by Bruce Willis; and are notable for being one of his final roles, before retiring from acting due to his health struggles with aphasia and frontotemporal dementia diagnoses. The plot of each film centers around a different holiday, and follow the lead character's attempts to resolve the associated criminal activities.
Detective Knight | |
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Based on | Original characters by Edward John Drake & Corey Large |
Starring |
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Production companies |
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Distributed by | Lionsgate |
Release date | 2022–2023 |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $324,354 (Cumulative of 3 films) |
The movies have been met with mixed reception, overall.[1][2][3] The first installment,[4][5] its sequel,[6][7] as well as the third and final release,[8][9] were collectively criticized for their pace, story elements, B-movie quality and script. Conversely, elements of the movies received positive reactions for the writer/director's story-telling framework around Willis, while honoring his legacy with limited lines to respectively utilize his legacy presence, regardless of his diminishing health problems; with praise directed at the film series' action sequences.[10][11][12] The film series earned over $300,000 at the box office through limited international theatrical distribution.[13][14][15]
Films
Film | U.S. release date |
Director | Screenwriter | Story by | Producers |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Detective Knight: Rogue | October 21, 2022 | Edward Drake | Edward Drake & Corey Large | Randall Emmett, George Furla and Corey Large | |
Detective Knight: Redemption | December 9, 2022 | ||||
Detective Knight: Independence | January 23, 2023 | Robert Dean and Corey Large | |||
Detective Knight: Rogue (2022)
Det. James Knight, who's reputation is in question with the police force, is called into action when a series of masked bank robberies taking place durign the Halloween season plague the area. Working through the investigation with his friend Det. Eric "Fitz" Fitzgerald, and with the help of their colleague Det. Godwin Sango, the trio find a trail of clues that leads them to connections with a businessman named Winna. Coming to terms with demons from his past, Knight begins to discover that the gang of thieves may be an inside job.[16][17][18][10][19][20][4][5]
Detective Knight: Redemption (2022)
After killing a pair of thieves to save his police partner, Det. James Knight finds himself sentenced to serve a term in prison. After Det. Fitzgerald begins to clear his name, Knight is tasked with investigating potential connections to a series of events begin examined by the police department; all while being surrounded by criminals he helped to incarcerate. During Christmastime a former ex-convict-turned-chaplain of the facility named Ricky Conlan, organizes a jailbreak as a means to fight the commercial aspects of the holiday; under the alias of The Christmas Bomber, alongside his band of lawbreaks who call themselves the Real Saints of Christmas. Now given the chance of exoneration in clearing his name, with the decades of experience Det. Knight must stop the plans the group has planned before its too late.[16][17][18][7][6][21][22][11]
Detective Knight: Independence (2023)
Det. James Knight is called into action one last time, when the threat of a domestic terrorist group causing commotion once again arises. As the celebration of the nation's Independence Day approaches, a disgruntled former EMT-turned-criminal named Dezi, alongside his girlfriend Ally plan to complete a heist in compensation for recently being fired. With the help of ex-criminal father Vincent, they assemble a team to take a large sum of money and escape before they're discovered. When they begin to leave a trail of murders in their wake, Knight grows closer to solving the case and ending their spree.[16][17][18][8][23][24][9][12]
Main cast and characters
This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in more than two films in the series.
- An empty, dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's official presence has not yet been confirmed.
- A indicates an appearance through archival footage or audio.
- C indicates a cameo role.
- P indicates an appearance in onscreen photographs.
Character | Films | ||
---|---|---|---|
Detective Knight: Rogue |
Detective Knight: Redemption |
Detective Knight: Independence | |
Principal cast | |||
Det. James Knight | Bruce Willis | ||
Det. Eric "Fitz" Fitzgerald | Lochlyn Munro | ||
Det. Godwin Sango | Jimmy Jean-Louis | ||
Winna | Michael Eklund | Michael EklundAPC | |
Casey Rhodes | Beau Mirchoff | ||
Mercer | Corey Large | ||
Mike Rochester | Trevor Gretzsky | ||
Nikki Sykes | Keeya King | ||
Ricky Conlan The Christmas Bomber |
Paul Johansson | ||
Dajon | Cody Kearsley | ||
Maxwell Roy | Sarah May Sommers | ||
Jerry Leach | Nels Lennarson | ||
Dezi | Jack Kilmer | ||
Ally | Willow Shields | ||
Vincent | Timothy V. Murphy | ||
Supporting cast | |||
Capt. Anna Shea | Miranda Edwards | ||
Mayor Vassetti | John Cassini | ||
Arthur Vassetti | Jerry Yu | ||
Lily | Hunter Daily | ||
Clara Knight | Alice Comer | ||
Brigga | Johnny Messner | Johnny MessnerAPC | |
The Chess Master | Ryan Xue | ||
COP Charlotte Burnham | Dina Meyer | ||
Peter O'Malley | Francis Cronin | ||
Sean Beston | Scott Cargle | ||
Nico | Michael Sparks | ||
Kirill | Mark Hewlett | ||
George | Lorenzo Antonucci | ||
Quinn | Dax Spangole | ||
Additional crew and production details
Title | Crew/Detail | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Composer | Cinematographer | Editor | Production companies |
Distributing companies |
Running time | ||
Detective Knight: Rogue | Scott Currie | Laffrey Witbrod | Justin Williams | Lions Gate Films, Emmett/Furla Oasis Films, BondIt Media Capital, Buffalo 8 Productions |
Lionsgate | 1 hr 45 mins | |
Detective Knight: Redemption | 1 hr 33 mins | ||||||
Detective Knight: Independence | 1 hr 31 mins | ||||||
Reception
Box office & financial performance
Film | Box office gross | Box office ranking | World-wide total video sales |
World-wide total gross income |
Budget | Worldwide total net income |
Ref. | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
North America | Other territories | Worldwide | All time North America |
All time worldwide | ||||||
Detective Knight: Rogue | — | $95,244 | $95,244 | — | #31,475 | Information not publicly available | >$95,244 | Information not publicly available | ~ >$95,244 | [13][25] |
Detective Knight: Redemption | — | $192,939 | $192,939 | — | Information not publicly available | Information not publicly available | >$192,939 | Information not publicly available | ~ >$192,939 | [14][26] |
Detective Knight: Independence | — | $36,171 | $36,171 | — | Information not publicly available | Information not publicly available | >$36,171 | Information not publicly available | ~ >$36,171 | [15][27] |
Totals | — | $324,354 | $324,354 | — | x̄ #10,492 | >$0 | >$324,354 | Information not publicly available | ~ >$324,354 |
Critical and public response
Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic |
---|---|---|
Detective Knight: Rogue | 67% (9 reviews)[1] |
— |
Detective Knight: Redemption | 67% (9 reviews)[2] |
TBD (2 reviews)[28] |
Detective Knight: Independence | 67% (12 reviews)[3] |
— |
References
- "Detective Knight: Rogue". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. 21 October 2022. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- "Detective Knight: Redemption". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. 9 December 2022. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- "Detective Knight: Independence". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. 20 January 2023. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- Voices From the Balcony staff (2022). "Detective Knight: Rogue (2022) Review". Voices From the Balcony. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- Maitra, Abirbhab (October 25, 2022). "Detective Knight: Rogue Movie Ending, Explained – What Happens to Knight and Casey in the End?". High on Films. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- Voices From the Balcony staff (2022). "Detective Knight: Redemption (2022) Review". Voice From the Balcony. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- Moore, Roger (November 29, 2022). "Movie Review: Bruce's Farewell Trilogy? "Detective Knight: Redemption"". Movie Nation. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- Voices From the Balcony staff (2023). "Detective Knight: Independence (2023) Review". Voices From the Balcony. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- Verma, Shikhar (January 16, 2023). "Detective Knight: Independence (2023) Review – An unexciting conclusion to a vapid cop-trilogy". High on Films. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- Delgado, Jason (November 13, 2022). "Detective Knight: Rogue". FilmThreat. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- Delgado, Jason (December 13, 2022). "Detective Knight: Redemption". FilmThreat. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- Delgado, Jason (January 18, 2023). "Detective Knight: Independence". FilmThreat. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- "Detective Knight: Rogue (2022)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- "Detective Knight: Redemption". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- "Detective Knight: Independence". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- P, Maddie (December 25, 2022). "Bruce Willis' 'Detective Knight' Trilogy: Release Dates, Trailers, Cast & Everything We Know So Far". Collider. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- Tyrrell, Caitlin (January 13, 2023). "Bruce Willis Jumps Into Action For Detective Knight: Independence [EXCLUSIVE CLIP]". ScreenRant.
- Cotter, Padraig (January 28, 2023). "Every Bruce Willis Franchise, Ranked Worst To Best". ScreenRant. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- Dossey, Evan (December 4, 2022). "Detective Knigh: Rogue". Midwest Film Journal. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- Eoin (2022). "Detective Knight: Rogue (2022) Review". The Action Elite. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- Dossey, Evan (January 6, 2023). "Detective Knight: Redemption". Midwest Film Journal. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- Eoin (2022). "Detective Knight: Redemption (2022) Review". The Action Elite. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- Eoin (2023). "Detective Knight: Independence (2023) Review". The Action Elite. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- Dossey, Evan (January 6, 2023). "Detective Knight: Independence". Midwest Film Journal. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- "Detective Knight: Rogue (2022)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- "Detective Knight: Redemption (2022)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- "Detective Knight: Independence (2023)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- "Detective Knight: Redemption". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved June 5, 2023.