Modern spy adventure Kingsman: The Secret Service was one of 2014’s most under-appreciated gems at the box office, and now the film’s sequel has an official title and release date.
In a recent interview with The Secret Service co-writer and director Matthew Vaughn, the filmmaker revealed that the sequel will be titled Kingsman: The Golden Circle, and take its British secret-agent heroes to the U.S. for an encounter with their American counterparts. The interview was accompanied by some concept art for the 2017 film, as well as some additional hints about the plot and cast of characters that will be introduced.
“I didn’t know if I wanted to direct this or not. I was worried about the villain. Spy films are only as good as their villains,” Vaughn told Empire magazine (as reported by ComicBookMovie.com). “Then one morning I woke up with the whole storyline in place, and a new villain plot.”
The Golden Circle will reportedly feature Taron Egerton and Mark Strong reprising their roles as the young agent Eggsy and the tech expert Merlin, respectively, as they head to the U.S. to meet up with another super-spy group led by a “swaggering, sharpshooting cowboy” named Jack (who remains to be cast) and a character played by Halle Berry named Ginger. The primary villain of the film, named Poppy, will be played by Julianne Moore.
Vaughn indicated that the film will hopefully feature a scene to rival the amazingly shot — and gruesomely brutal — church fight scene featuring Colin Firth that was one of the 2014 movie’s most memorable sequences.
“You try not to read what people want, but they do want another church sequence,” he acknowledged. “I have no reason for another massacre to happen. But I have other sequences you’ve never seen before.”
Along with revealing the film’s title and 2017 release date, the article also offered a hint at what’s to come in the form of concept art for the film (which you can see at ComicBookMovie.com). One image in particular is notable, as it shows Egerton’s character standing in front of the rubble-strewn remains of what was once the street-level entrance to the Kingman organization’s base of operations. Other images feature the facade of the American organization’s headquarters — a building shaped like a whiskey bottle — and the base of operations for Moore’s character called “Poppyland.”
Kingman: The Golden Circle is scheduled to hit theaters June 16, 2017.
