Warning: This article contains minor spoilers forGlass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mysteryhas become quite the hit on Netflix, amassing $13 million at the box office in its one-week-only, limited release in theaters and 82.1 million hours of watch time in its first weekend debut on Netflix, perPEOPLE, and for good reason. The film garnered some veryfavorable reviews with criticsand audiences, and featured plenty of big names, such as Daniel Craig, Kate Hudson, Edward Norton, Kathryn Hahn, Janelle Monae, and more. After watching Rian Johnson’s sequel, many viewers searched question after question on Google about the film’s meaning,the many cameos, the identity of the killer, outfits and costumes, and more. Needless to say,Glass Onionstirred up a ton of questions.
One of the main questions that struck viewers mind was speculation over Miles Bron and his similarities to Elon Musk, current owner of Tesla, SpaceX, and recent over taker of Twitter. Although Johnson claimed the likeness was a “horrible, horrible accident”, we can’t help but to see it as well. According to the director, they were only intending to recreate the image of the modern billionaire. Of course, this script was written well before Musk’s Twitter takeover and was most likely not written with him in mind, but Miles projected image in the film and Musk’s current image do match surprisingly well. The names Bron and Elon even rhyme.
Regardless, in the film, Miles epitomizes the out-of-touch billionaire who becomes numb to how elaborate and expensive his lifestyle is. In such billionaire fashion, we couldn’t help but notice all the multi-million-dollar recreated collectibles throughout the film that were kept on theGlass Onionisland. Which begs the question: what were the most valuable collectibles on Miles Bron’s island?
10Paul McCartney’s Acoustic Guitar — $351,646
Although Paul McCartney had a few guitars over his career in the music world, this specific guitar held a special place in his heart, along with his fans. The Rex acoustic guitar was the first McCartney ever learned to play on. If it wasn’t for this specific musical instrument, The Beatles would’ve never amounted to the immeasurable success they gained over the years. The guitar was sold by McCartney’s old school friend Ian James, who was one of the key elements to The Beatles' formation. Allegedly, he taught McCartney a few new chords on the guitar, which he then demonstrated to John Lennon while he was playing with his then-band The Quarrymen. These chords won Lennon over, leading to the start of The Beatles. The guitar sold at auction for $330,000 Euros, or $351,646 USD, selling way above John Lennon’s guitar, which fetched $155,500 Euros in 1999 (viaNME).
InGlass Onion, Miles doesn’t treat this recreated treasure with much respect. He is seen playing this guitar a few times, which you typically wouldn’t do with an item this rare. If you were a normal collector, it would remain in a case or display box and usually wouldn’t be touched. Even worse, when the rest of the crew first arrives, he carelessly tosses it onto the sand and leaves it there, exposed to the elements. Not cool, Miles.
9Liberace’s Piano — $500,000
This bejeweled piano see in Miles dining hall inGlass Onionwas once owned by Liberace, the famous pianist who played professionally for over 40 years in TV, concerts, films, and recordings. The one-of-a-kind piano is encrusted with 88,888 Swarovski crystals, a musical piece fit for a King. Although it has no record of being sold at auction, the piece is valued at $500,000, but fans believe, much like theMona Lisa, that this piano is priceless. Back in 2015, the Piano Mill, where the precious piece was housed, had a 100-foot by 100-foot roof collapse due to a snowstorm, and the piano was thought to have been potentially damaged. Once the building was investigated, the piano was removed unharmed.
InGlass Onion, we see bits and pieces of the recreated piano throughout, but it’s unfortunate shining moment is when it is utterly destroyed by Helen (Monae) in her blaze of hatred against Miles. That poor, dazzling piano.
Related:Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Cast and Character Guide
8Rothko’s Number 207 (Red over Dark Blue on Dark Gray 1961) — $750,000
Mark Rothko created this piece in 1961. Like most of Rothko’s work after 1949,Number 207follows a format of stacked rectangular forms painted on top of other colors. He built small illusions of depth by building up the forms with washes and thin layers of at least two or more related colors for each form. In total, Rothko created over 836 cataloged paintings. Although this painting has no record of being sold in the last few decades, some art coinsures have pegged the value of this painting at $750,000. Realistically, 836 paintings sound like a lot, but for the hundreds of millions of art fanatics in the world, the paintings are still pretty rare.
Sadly, Miles Bron does this painting no justice inGlass Onion. In a few scenes, the Rothko painting can be seen hanging upside down on the wall, demonstrating his superficial appreciation for art.
7Matisse’s Icarus, Plate VIII (1947) — $1M+
In the film, Detective Benoit Blanc makes a reference to this specific painting, saying, “I can handle the Matisse in the bathroom.” Yes, you are allowed to be upset that this empty-headed billionaire hung a painting worth over $1 million in the bathroom next to a toilet. We can only speculate if that re-created painting is still perfectly preserved after its life in there. This painting is from a 1947 illustrated bookJazz. The illustrations are derived from maquettes of cut and pasted colored papers, which were then printed using a stencil technique known as “pochoir.” Matisse created over 1,000 paintings in his lifetime, between the 1890s and 1950s. This is another piece of art that’s never been recorded going to auction, but based on its style and artist, the piece is worth over $1 million.
6Porshe 918 Spyder — $1.5M
The “my baby blue” featured inGlass Onionisn’t any ordinary sports car. On the contrary, the Porshe 918 Spyder is a limited run, hybrid model that was only produced from September 2013 to June 2015. The starting price from the manufacturer was $845,000 USD, but due to its limited availability in recent years, it has shot up to an average of $1.5 million. This naturally aspirated V8 engine tops out at 214 MPH and this model remains highly sought after. Of course, in the film, we see many occasions when Miles is doting over his beautiful car. After learning the price tag, we may be able to see why.
5Picasso’s Still Life With Stone (1924) — $20M+
Picasso is known all over the world, most famous for his Cubism paintings and controversial art choices. He was known for bending the rules and thinking outside the box, with one of his pieces,Les Demoiselles d’Avignoncausing an uproar when it was displayed for its nude women and nontraditional images. His unique art has been treasured all over the world, with one of his paintings,Nude, Green Leaves and Bustsetting a world record when it sold in mid 2022 for $106,482,500. The recreated Picasso painting used inGlass Oniondidn’t get a large amount of screen time, but it was properly hung and displayed on the wall. The real-life version has no record of being sold, but it’s valued at over $20 million.
Related:Shows and Movies to Watch if You Loved Knives Out and Glass Onion
4Hockney’s Nichols Canyon (1980) — $35M
Nichols Canyonwas painted in 1980, full of beautiful colors and landscape. It is considered one of his greatest masterpieces, and by far the most significant landscape painting he ever created. Art collectors consider this piece “one of the greatest contemporary depictions of the Los Angeles neighborhood.” This specific piece remains in private hands, and we may never see it sold off. If it were to be sold, the piece could fetch over $35 million. Like the Picasso piece above, this painting didn’t get a ton of screen time in the film, which is unfortunate, as this piece is a sight to behold indeed.
3Mondrian’s Composition No. II with Red and Blue (1929) — $50.6M
Dutch painter Piet Mondrian’s oil painting sold at a New York auction for $50.6 million in 2015, setting a new record for the highest price Mondrian’s art had ever fetched. Upon first inspection of this piece, you will find a few square boxes filled in with some red and blue paint. But, according to art experts, his art “demonstrates his commitment to relational opposites, asymmetry, and pure planes of color. Mondrian composed this painting as a harmony of contrasts that signify both balance and the tension of dynamic forces.” With such a complex meaning to the piece, no wonder this pricey painting sat in a fictitious billionaire’s house.
2Basquiat’s In This Case (1983) — $93.1M
As the most unique painting on this list, Basquiat’sIn This Caseis only 40 years old. The art depicts scenes of color, culture, and African-American heritage. Although the piecefetched a whopping $93.1 millionin May 2021, this artist wasn’t always valued so highly. The same canvas was sold in November 2002 for just $999,500, totaling nearly a hundredth of the price paid in 2021. The price skyrocketed due to his growing popularity among the art community, as African-American painters have been undervalued and underrepresented in museums previously.
1Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa (1503-06) — $850M+
There is nearly no one in the world who has never heard of theMona Lisa. This painting is arguably the most famous piece to ever be created. Realistically, this piece is considered priceless, with no monetary value ever being enough to collect this painting. Although the Louvre Museum, where theMona Lisais displayed, would most likely never sell this painting, if they were to do so, it would be worth a minimum of $850 million, with most saying it would tick up into the billions. This masterpiece has been displayed in the Louvre since 1797 and will most likely stay there for decades or centuries more, free of haughty billionaires like Miles Bron.
Unfortunately, inGlass Onion, theMona Lisameets her demise when Helen sets fire to the house and unlocks the airtight case, allowing the flames to engulf the piece. That automatic lock would’ve come in handy in this case, wouldn’t it, Miles?
