Michael Shannon has praised 'Knives Out' director Rian Johnson for creating a whodunit from scratch.

The 46-year-old filmmaker's movie, which stars Daniel Craig as private detective Benoit Blanc, has been a critical and commercial success, and Shannon - who plays Harlan CEO Walt Thrombey - has hailed the 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' helmer for coming up with an original screenplay rather than opting to remake a classic whodunit.

He said: ''I was just so happy for (director) Rian [Johnson].

''I'm just really impressed with him. He's just a real smart fellow.

''Was it a surprise? I don't know. I'm not saying this because I was in it, but it did have a pretty interesting cast.

''There was bound to be somebody in that cast that you were gonna wanna go see.

''Whether it was the fellow playing James Bond, or the fellow playing Captain America, or Don Johnson, or whatever, there was something for everybody.

''And it's the kind of movie that they don't really make much anymore.

''If they do, it's Kenneth Branagh remaking an Agatha Christie movie that's already been made.

''For somebody to construct one of these from whole cloth is cause for a little bit of excitement.''

Johnson has confirmed a sequel is in the works, but Shannon has insisted he highly doubts his alter ego will return.

Asked if he anticipated a second movie, he told Collider.com: ''No, I don't expect we're gonna see Walt again.

''It is interesting, the whole notion of a sequel to it.

''I'm happy for Daniel [Craig]. I think he had a lot of fun with the part.

''I'd be first in line to go see it, if it comes out. It's hard to say, nowadays.''

'No Time To Die' star Craig is poised to return for the sequel.

However, Johnson recently admitted 'Knives Out 2' won't be a direct sequel, as Blanc will have a brand-new mystery to solve in the second film.

He said: ''In my mind, I don't even think of it in terms of like a sequel ... ever since we started working on this I was like, look, if we can keep this going, the same way Agatha Christie wrote a bunch of Poirot novels.

''I mean, do that with Blanc and keep making more mysteries. Whole new cast, whole new location, whole new mystery. It's just another Benoit Blanc mystery and it seems like there's just so many different things you can do with it, you know? It seems like it'd be really fun.''