# 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.
The movies have been met with mixed reception, overall. The first installment, its sequel, as well as the third and final release, 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. The film series earned $341,525 at the box office through limited international theatrical distribution.

## Films

| Film | U.S. release date | Director | Screenwriter | Story by | Producers |
| Detective Knight: Rogue | October 21, 2022 (2022-10-21) | Edward Drake | Edward Drake | Corey Large & Edward Drake | Corey Large, George Furla & Randall Emmett |
| Detective Knight: Redemption | December 9, 2022 (2022-12-9) | Edward Drake | Edward Drake | Corey Large & Edward Drake | Corey Large, George Furla & Randall Emmett |
| Detective Knight: Independence | January 23, 2023 (2023-01-23) | Edward Drake | Edward Drake | Corey Large & Edward Drake | Corey Large & Robert Dean |

### Detective Knight: Rogue (2022)

Det. James Knight, whose reputation is in question with the police force, is called into action when a series of masked bank robberies taking place during 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.

### 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.

### 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.

## Main cast and characters

This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in more than two films in the series.
* An empty 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 | Films | Films |
| Character | Detective Knight: Rogue | Detective Knight: Redemption | Detective Knight: Independence |
| Principal cast ||||
| Det. James Knight | Bruce Willis | Bruce Willis | Bruce Willis |
| Det. Eric "Fitz" Fitzgerald | Lochlyn Munro | Lochlyn Munro | Lochlyn Munro |
| Det. Godwin Sango | Jimmy Jean-Louis | Jimmy Jean-Louis | Jimmy Jean-Louis |
| Winna | Michael Eklund | Michael Eklund | |
| Casey Rhodes | Beau Mirchoff | Beau Mirchoff | |
| Mercer | Corey Large | Corey Large | |
| Mike Rochester | Trevor Gretzsky | | |
| Nikki Sykes | Keeya King | | |
| Ricky Conlan The Christmas Bomber | Paul Johansson | Paul Johansson | |
| Dajon | Cody Kearsley | Cody Kearsley | |
| Maxwell Roy | Sarah May Sommers | Sarah May Sommers | |
| Jerry Leach | Nels Lennarson | Nels Lennarson | |
| Dezi | | | Jack Kilmer |
| Ally | | | Willow Shields |
| Vincent | | | Timothy V. Murphy |
| Supporting cast ||||
| Capt. Anna Shea | Miranda Edwards | Miranda Edwards | |
| Mayor Vassetti | John Cassini | John Cassini | |
| Arthur Vassetti | Jerry Yu | Jerry Yu | |
| Lily Rhodes | Hunter Daily | Hunter Daily | |
| Clara Rhodes | Alice Comer | Alice Comer | |
| Brigga | Johnny Messner | Johnny Messner | |
| The Chess Master | Ryan Xue | 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 | Crew/Detail | Crew/Detail | Crew/Detail | Crew/Detail | Crew/Detail |
| Title | Composer | Cinematographer | Editor | Production companies | Distributing companies | Running time |
| Detective Knight: Rogue | Scott Currie | Laffrey Witbrod | Justin Williams | Lions Gate Films BondIt Media Capital Buffalo 8 Productions Emmett/Furla Oasis Films | Lionsgate | 105 min |
| Detective Knight: Redemption | Scott Currie | Laffrey Witbrod | Justin Williams | Lions Gate Films BondIt Media Capital Buffalo 8 Productions Emmett/Furla Oasis Films | Lionsgate | 93 min |
| Detective Knight: Independence | Scott Currie | Laffrey Witbrod | Justin Williams | Lions Gate Films BondIt Media Capital Buffalo 8 Productions Emmett/Furla Oasis Films | Lionsgate | 91 min |

## Reception
### Box office and financial performance

| Film | Box office gross | Box office gross | Box office gross | Box office ranking | Box office ranking | Ref. |
| Film | North America | Other territories | Worldwide | All time North America | All time worldwide | Ref. |
| Detective Knight: Rogue | — | $95,244 | $95,244 | — | #31,475 | |
| Detective Knight: Redemption | — | $192,939 | $192,939 | — | Information not publicly available | |
| Detective Knight: Independence | — | $53,342 | $53,342 | — | Information not publicly available | |
| Totals | — | $341,525 | $341,525 | — | x̄ #10,492 | |

### Critical and public response

| Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic |
| Detective Knight: Rogue | 50% (8 reviews) | — |
| Detective Knight: Redemption | 71% (7 reviews) | — (2 reviews) |
| Detective Knight: Independence | 60% (10 reviews) | — |