Wondering where you'll next see Henry Cavill following his departure from The Witcher? There won't be long to wait, since he's set to star in Argylle, an action-comedy from celebrated director Mathew Vaughn (of Layer Cake and Kingsman fame).
Movie buffs are waiting in anticipation for the film, which will be based within the "Kingsman universe", according to its director – as the franchise aims to expand to a Marvel-style series of movies.
The premise? It's a story-within-a-story, inspired the novel Argylle by Elly Conway – that is, it's about an author who writes espionage thrillers, who finds that the fictional stories in her books are mirroring reality. Meta.
Henry Cavill aside, the film features a majorly star-studded cast, including Bryce Dallas Howard, Dua Lipa, Samuel L. Jackson and more. Here's everything we know so far…
We predict that you'll need tissues.
What is Argylle about?
The film is described as a “razor-witted, reality-bending, globe-encircling spy thriller,” which mirrors the sharp, heightened style that Vaughn is known for.
The official plot line reads: “Bryce Dallas Howard is Elly Conway, the reclusive author of a series of best-selling espionage novels, whose idea of bliss is a night at home with her computer and her cat, Alfie. But when the plots of Elly’s fictional books — which centre on secret agent Argylle and his mission to unravel a global spy syndicate — begin to mirror the covert actions of a real-life spy organisation, quiet evenings at home become a thing of the past.
“Accompanied by Aiden, a cat-allergic spy, Elly (carrying Alfie in her backpack) races across the world to stay one step ahead of the killers as the line between Elly’s fictional world and her real one begins to blur.”
In an interview with Den of Geek, Vaughn hinted that Argylle will turn the spy movie genre on its head, saying: “I’m guilty of contributing to creating the tropes that we all know in spy movies. So, I love the idea of taking some of the tropes that I’m guilty of and reinventing them.”
Who stars in Argylle?
Henry Cavill stars as Agent Argylle, the fictional agent character from Elly's (Bryce Dallas Howard) novels. Oscar winner Sam Rockwell also appears as Aiden, a real-life spy, while the supporting cast is made up of fellow stars including Dua Lipa (playing a saucy nemesis to Argylle), Samuel L. Jackson, Ariana Debose, John Cena, Catherine O'Hara and Bryan Cranston.
It will be Dua Lipa's first major film role (Argylle was in fact filmed before Barbie) – and she's spoken of her excitement about the project in recent interviews. She told Variety: “I had the most fun. Honestly, being on a motorcycle and doing all the stunts, it was just so much fun. And working with Henry was amazing. Matthew is just such a great director.”
Is there a trailer?
There sure is:
How does Argylle fit in the Kingsman universe?
Mathew Vaughn has already said that he sees Argylle as part of a larger Kingsman spy ‘universe’, with potential for the films – and potential sequels – to crossover in future.
Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, he said: "[With] Argylle, as I said, we’ve got the book coming out, and we have an Argylle 2 planned. So, there is a universe and what we’re trying to do… [what] Marvel [is] to superheroes, we want to be spies as well. So we’ve got Kingsman on the right, Argylle’s on the left, and then we’ve got an idea for something in the middle as well. Then you’ve got these sort of competing franchises in a galaxy that one day might meet.” Intriguing.
When is Argylle's release date?
The film will hit UK cinemas on February 2, 2024, and is set to later stream on Apple TV+, too.
