After his third spy film in the ‘Kingsman’ franchise, “The King’s Man,” is expected to be released in December, it appears filmmaker Matthew Vaughn isn’t wasting time before jumping right back into the espionage game with a new film.
According to a report from Observer, Vaughn is expected to write and direct a new untitled film about an author that suddenly reclaims her memories and realizes she is actually a super spy that was part of a mysterious organization. And if that’s not enough to get you excited, the report claims Bryce Dallas Howard is in talks to star in the film as the author-turned-spy with Sam Rockwell and Samuel L. Jackson also circling roles. If they sign up, Rockwell is expected to play a shady figure in The Division, the spy organization that Howard’s character used to be part of, and Jackson will play a rogue spy.
As mentioned, Vaughn has been stuck in the spy world with “The Kingsman” films for years now, so it’s not entirely shocking to see him stick around to tell an original story set in the world of espionage. And if the casting comes together, it would serve as a bit of a reunion with Jackson, who played the antagonist in the first ‘Kingsman’ film. Previous to his trio of ‘Kingsman’ films, Vaughn was probably best known for directing “X-Men: First Class” and “Kick-Ass,” both of which are superhero films. He’s also the filmmaker behind “Layer Cake” and “Stardust.”
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Not much else is known about the project, but if this comes together, it would appear that Vaughn is going to quickly move from “The King’s Man,” which has been delayed for a long time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and jump into a new project. It’ll be interesting to see him return to the world of original films, after dabbling quite a bit in established IP, as well.
“The King’s Man” hits theaters on December 22.