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While there are still sharp suits and the pairing of a dapper older gent and maverick young guy, The King’s Man is set to be a very different beast to its predecessors.
Jumping back a century before the Kingsmen adventures of Harry Hart and Eggsy, The King’s Man is set against the backdrop of World War I, when this Secret Service was initially established. Ralph Fiennes plays the original King’s Man, the Duke of Oxford, and Harris Dickinson is his headstrong son, Conrad.
Their mission sees them teaming up with household employees Polly (Gemma Arterton) and bodyguard Shola (Djimon Hounsou), on a mission that'll see them cross paths with mad monk Rasputin (Rhys Ifans).
Below, you can see an exclusive new look at the film via our sister publication, Total Film magazine. The first image sees Oxfords Sr and Jr meeting Lord Kitchener (Charles Dance) and his aide-de-camp, Maximillian Morton (Matthew Goode), while the second features Polly and Shola. See for yourself:
Director Matthew Vaughn was revisiting John Huston’s classic adventure The Man Who Would Be King, starring Sean Connery and Michael Caine, when the idea for the next instalment in the Kingsman franchise crystallised in his mind. “I [previously] watched it as an audience member, and then I suddenly watched it now as a director,” Vaughn tells Total Film.
“When I finished it, I was like, ‘Why is no one making movies like this any more?’ They’re epic. They’re an adventure. They’re poignant. They’ve got messaging. It had it all, and, I think, the best Connery performance of all time. He’s just spellbinding. So That was it. I said, ‘Shit, I want to make a movie like that.’”
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An old-fashioned epic. In this economy? Not exactly the easiest sell. “I thought about pitching to Hollywood, ‘Guys, I want to do an epic adventure like The Man Who Would Be King,’” Vaughn continues. “Every door would be slammed in my face as usual, and they’d go, ‘No one wants to watch movies like that.’ So I was like, ‘Alright, well, how do I do this?’ And then I was thinking about Kingsman as well, and I thought, look, if I do the history of the Kingsman – which I knew what it was when I wrote the first one – it felt like I’d get my cake, and eat it.”
The King’s Man opens in UK cinemas on September 16; in the US it’s out on September 25. For much more from Vaughn, Fiennes, Dicksinson, Arterton and Ifans, check out the new issue of Total Film – which hits shelves both real and digital from this Friday, August 21. You can see the new covers below; the one on the left is on its way to subscribers right now.
We said his name... #Candyman leads our new issue, which features our massive horror preview! Available on shelves this Friday – and on the way to subscribers now https://t.co/I5nsU9bKsg pic.twitter.com/Ns3YZfl4lYAugust 17, 2020
If you’re a fan of Total Film magazine, why not subscribe so that you never miss an issue? Sign up via MyFavouriteMagazines, and with our latest offer you’ll get a year's subscription for half price! Plus you'll also get exclusive subscriber-only covers like the Candyman one that's currently on its way to subscribers right now. (Ts & Cs apply, follow link for full details.)
