Kingsman (franchise)

Development[edit]

The first film – Kingsman: The Secret Service originated when Mark Millar and Matthew Vaughn were at a bar discussing spy movies, lamenting that the genre had become too serious over the years and deciding to do "a fun one".^[6] To have the time to make the film, Vaughn had to opt out of directing X-Men: Days of Future Past, which he called "a really tough decision".^[6] He reasoned that if he did not do it, "somebody else... [would] wake up and do a fun spy movie. Then I would have written a bloody screenplay that no one would want to make."^[6] Colin Firth joined the cast to lead the film on 29 April 2013.^[7] It was initially reported in 2013 that Leonardo DiCaprio was in talks to play a villain,^[8] although Vaughn himself later denied that he was ever considered, stating that he came as close to playing the role "as I am to becoming the Pope".^[9] Instead the role of the villain went to Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson took the role in part because of a career-long dream to be in a James Bond movie. As he felt that this was unlikely to come true, he took on the role, stating "I felt like this was an opportunity to play a really great Bond villain".^[10] Jackson's character has a notable lisp, which was partially inspired by the stutter he had during his childhood.^[10] In September 2013, Vaughn cast Sophie Cookson for the female lead, preferring a newcomer over more obvious candidates like Emma Watson and Bella Heathcote.^[11] Mark Hamill was cast as Professor James Arnold, a reference to his character in the source comic book being named "Mark Hamill".^[12]


Millar and Vaughn stated that a sequel was possible if the first film performs well at the box office, and Vaughn expressed interest in directing the sequel.^[22][63] Vaughn also noted that he hoped to have Firth back in the sequel, and that Strong was interested in returning as well.^[23] It was confirmed that Taron Egerton was contracted for the sequel.^[64] When asked how they would incorporate Firth's character into the sequel, Millar stated that various ideas have been discussed, including giving Harry Hart an evil brother, or perhaps turning the character into a ghost. Fox later announced a sequel was in the works, but it was unclear if Vaughn would return to direct.^[65] On 11 June 2015, it was confirmed Vaughn had begun writing the sequel, and that he might return to direct it.^[66][67] Principal photography was set to begin in April 2016, with a 6 October 2017 release date.^[68][69] It was reported that Julianne Moore was in talks to star as the new villain, and Halle Berry might sign on as the Head of the CIA.^[70][71] On 18 March 2016, Edward Holcroft was also confirmed to reprise his role as Charles "Charlie" Hesketh.^[72] Vaughn later revealed the sequel's title to be Kingsman: The Golden Circle. The plot follows Eggsy and Merlin joining forces with "Statesman", their American counterpart after Kingsman was destroyed by the film's villain Poppy, played by Moore.^[73] On 7 April 2016, Egerton revealed the first poster for the film, which strongly hinted that Firth would return for the film; the poster features Harry Hart's trademark pair of glasses with one of the lenses missing below the tagline (a borrowed quote from Mark Twain) stating "reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated".^[74][75] Sophie Cookson will also reprise her role as Roxy Morton in the sequel.^[76] The next day, Deadline reported that Pedro Pascal was in talks for the role of Jack Daniels.^[77] On 12 April 2016, Elton John was in talks about joining the cast of the upcoming sequel.^[78] The next day, Channing Tatum announced on his Twitter account that he was joining the cast as Agent Tequila.^[79][80]


A prequel to the franchise titled The King's Man was released on 22 December 2021. In June 2018, Vaughn announced that the prequel film would be titled Kingsman: The Great Game and stated that the plot would take place during the early 1900s and would depict the formation of the spy agency and would be filmed back-to-back with "the third regular Kingsman film".^[81][82] On 9 November 2018, Egerton confirmed he would not return for the prequel, however, he would still portray the character in future installments.^[83] It was originally scheduled to be released on 8 November 2019, but delayed eight times through 2020 and 2021 due to production issues and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[84][85] Matthew Vaughn stated that if a sequel were to be developed he would like to see the story about the first decade of the Kingsman agency with all characters that audience see at the end. According to the Hollywood Reporter,^[86] he said: