“Kingsman” director Matthew Vaughn has signed up an all-star cast for his new film franchise “Argylle,” which will be produced by Vaughn’s U.K.-based studio MARV.

Henry Cavill (“Man of Steel”), Sam Rockwell (“Moon”), Bryce Dallas Howard (“Jurassic World”), Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”), Catherine O’Hara (“Schitt’s Creek”), John Cena (“Bumblebee”) and Samuel L. Jackson (“Avengers: Endgame”) are all set to appear in the spy thriller.

MARV is already planning at least three films in the franchise, which is based on a debut novel of the same name by first-time author Ellie Conway.


The thriller is set to be published next year by Transworld Publishers Ltd., a division of Penguin Random House. Shooting on the film will begin in Europe this August.

The film (and book) will follow the globe-trotting adventures of a super-spy named Argylle across the U.S., London and other exotic locations. Pop singer Dua Lipa will provide music for the title track and score as well as making her acting debut in the feature.

“When I read this early draft manuscript I felt it was the most incredible and original spy franchise since Ian Fleming’s books of the ’50s,” said Vaughan. “This is going to reinvent the spy genre.”

Zygi Kamasa, CEO of MARV said: “We are delighted that we will be starting our fourth, and by far the biggest, feature film production since the start of the global pandemic. It demonstrates both our desire to scale up our production activity and our ambition to continue to launch new franchises beyond the ‘Kingsman’ series of films.”

Jason Fuchs (“Wonder Woman”) is writing the script and MARV and Vaughan will produce alongside Fuchs, Adam Bohling and David Reid. Zygi Kamasa, Carlos Peres, Claudia Vaughn and Adam Fishbach will exec produce.

Apple is near completion on another seismic film package streamer deal. Apple Original Films is closing worldwide rights on Argylle, the next film to be directed by Matthew Vaughn and produced by his MARV banner. First unveiled with cast recently, the package bore an ask of $200 million and Deadline hears that this deal will close right around that mark. It’s a deal for one picture but the hope will be to launch a franchise. The picture comes with a killer cast led by Henry Cavill, Sam Rockwell, Bryce Dallas Howard, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, John Cena and Samuel L. Jackson. Making her screen starring debut will be singing sensation Dua Lipa, who will also provide music for the title track and score. Apple already had a relationship with Vaughn, last year acquiring the biopic Tetris: The Movie, with Taron Edgerton, playing the video game impresario.

The parties confirmed the deal, but weren’t talking money. “I’m thrilled to team with Apple and bring the most compelling spy thriller I’ve ever read to the only streaming service that can create a franchise of this scale and quality for global audiences to experience,” Vaughn said.

The film, based on the soon to be launched spy novel Argylle from author Ellie Conway, follows the world’s greatest spy as he is caught up in a globe-trotting adventure. Conway’s debut thriller is scheduled to be published in a major launch in 2022 by Transworld Publishers Ltd, a division of Penguin Random House.

Jason Fuchs penned the script, and Vaughn’s regular collaborators Adam Bohling and David Reid are also producing, as is Fuchs. Zygi Kamasa, Carlos Peres, Claudia Vaughn and Adam Fishbach will serve as executive producers.

While the financial commitment feels high, it has become the accepted price of doing business on these ready to go star packages, particularly one that could become a global spy series like 007. Apple has landed several of these big ticket film packages. They include the Will Smith-Antoine Fuqua thriller Emancipation, currently in production, as well as the Martin Scorsese-directed Killers of the Flower Moon. with Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro starring in the Eric Roth-scripted adaptation of the David Grann book. Apple also landed the Ridley Scott-directed Napoleon pic Kitbag starring Joaquin Phoenix as the French leader and Jodie Comer playing his wife. Shooting is set to begin later this year.

Vaughn is repped by WME and Ziffren Brittenham.

“Argylle,” a new globe-trotting spy adventure from director Matthew Vaughn, is coming to theaters in 2024.

The film, which is being produced by Apple Original Films and distributed by Universal Pictures, will land on the big screen on Feb. 2 before streaming on Apple TV+ on a later date.

“Argylle” follows Henry Cavill as a super-spy whose job takes him across the U.S., London and other exotic locations. He plays a secret agent suffering from amnesia who is tricked into believing he’s a novelist. The star-studded cast also features Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, John Cena, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose and Samuel L. Jackson.


Vaughn’s U.K.-based studio Marv is already planning at least three films in the franchise, which is based on a debut novel of the same name by first-time author Ellie Conway.

“When I read this early draft manuscript I felt it was the most incredible and original spy franchise since Ian Fleming’s books of the ’50s,” Vaughan previously said about the thriller. “This is going to reinvent the spy genre.”

Jason Fuchs wrote the screenplay. The film is produced by Cloudy Productions and Vaughn’s regular collaborators Adam Bohling and David Reid, as well as Fuchs. Zygi Kamasa, Carlos Peres, Claudia Vaughn and Adam Fishbach serve as executive producers.

The Hollywood Reporter questioned the identity of first-time author Elly Conway, whose book is the basis of the film, as the only evidence of her existence include an Instagram account with no posts and a two-line bio that says she resides in the United States. They also pointed out that her name is spelled differently, as Ellie, on the website of the publisher Penguin Random House, and said their attempts to contact her, her publicist, and her talent agent were unsuccessful.[18] The trailer reveals the film's protagonist is in fact the in-universe author of the Argylle novels.[4]