Writer-director Rian Johnson reveals Knives Out star Chris Evans came up with the “eat sh-t” line as a replacement for the original R-rated line. When the first Knives Out movie trailer released last year, the internet fell in love with a particular scene in which Evans’ Ransom Drysdale tells his various family members to “eat sh-t.” The role clearly denoted a departure for Evans from Captain America, who he’d played in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for nearly a decade. Evans wrapped up his time in the MCU in last summer’s Avengers: Endgame, officially passing on the Captain America shield.
Knives Out served as Evans’ first major theatrical release in his post-MCU career, and the actor was widely praised for playing the arrogant and obnoxious Ransom Drysdale. The internet in particular latched on to Evans’ cream cable knit sweater in Knives Out, with that particular garment of clothing becoming a fan-favorite aspect of the film – though the entire collection of costumes and winter wear received its fair share of recognition. Still, one of the funniest scenes in Knives Out comes almost halfway through the movie when Evans’ character is introduced as he arrives for the will reading – and now we have some added context for how the “eat sh-t” exchange came about.
In a video for Vanity Fair as part of their “Notes on a Scene” series, Johnson broke down the scene in which Ransom arrives at the Thrombey house and butts heads with his family members. Johnson further confirmed he censored the Knives Out scene to prevent it from being R-rated, with the script originally having Evans’ character telling his family, “F-ck you.” Now Johnson reveals where exactly the “eat sh-t” replacement came from:
The original line actually, as written in the script, it was “f-ck you” instead of “eat sh-t.” So he was like, “F-ck you, f-ck you, f-ck you, f-ck you.” But essentially I changed it right before shooting because I realized that would’ve given us an R rating. … We had cast Chris at that point, so we were riffing, like what should he say besides “f-ck you”? And Chris was like, “I think a good ‘eat sh-t’ always works.”
Evans being the one to come up with the “eat sh-t” line for Johnson’s original profanity-heavy scene is a fun fact for fans of Knives Out, particularly fans of the actor. The movie was a huge success for Lionsgate, earning $306 million at the box office on a budget of $40 million; that was thanks in part to word of mouth. Certainly, the Knives Out movie reviews were overwhelmingly positive, but Evans’ “eat sh-t” scene and his sweater became part of that word of mouth movement that helped the film turn such a major profit. Knives Out was also undoubtedly helped by Evans’ A-list co-stars bringing some major star power to the movie as well as Johnson’s clever script and direction elevating the whodunnit genre.
All in all, it came as little surprise when a Knives Out sequel was officially confirmed by Lionsgate, with Johnson returning to write and direct. However, Evans won’t be back. The filmmaker has already confirmed his Knives Out sequel will follow the Agatha Christie model of having only the detective return. Knives Out 2 will feature Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) solving a whole new mystery. While that means we won’t get to see more of Evans’ Ransom Drysdale and his profanity-filled rants, fans will still be able to rewatch Knives Out to their heart’s content.
