Los Angeles, The third instalment to the Kingsman franchise directed by Matthew Vaughn titled “The King’s Man” dropped in cinemas on December 22. Starring Ralph Fiennes, who is also one of the film’s executive producers, alongside Rhys Ifans, Gemma Arterton, Matthew Goode, Tom Hollander, Harris Dickinson, Danniel Bruhl, Djimoun Honsou and Charles Dance, the movie serves as a prequel to the spy action film series.
“The King’s Man” is set in the backdrop of World War I, explaining the origins of the independent gentleman British spy agency who operate as ‘tailors’ as mentioned in the first film. Often looked on as more comedic, and an over-the-top version of James Bond, the franchise is mainly known for its stylized action sequences, violence and dark humour.
The first film in the series, “Kingsman:The Secret Service” was released in 2014 and focused on the story of Eggsy (Taron Egerton) who lives his life as an anti-social lower class youth who gets scouted by Harry (Colin Firth) ‘Agent Galahad’ to join an independent spy agency and stop the billionaire megalomanic Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson) from wiping out a large chunk of humanity in order to prevent human extinction due to global warming.
It became an unexpected hit, quickly grossing a total of $414.4 million against a $81-94 million budget. The second part of the franchise was released in 2017 titled “Kingsman: The Golden Circle”, where Kingsman and their American counterpart The Statesman team up to counter the Golden Circle, the world’s largest drug cartel and its head, the psychotic Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore). The film grossed a total $410.9 million against a budget of $104 million.
The original protagonist duo of Eggsy and Harry will apparently be appearing in the newest movie, but as mentioned before, the movie is a prequel, and is thus set in a time predating the events of the first film. In December 2021, Vaughn revealed that a fourth part to the franchise titled “Kingsman: The Blue Blood” will start filming in September 2022, and a spin off to the Golden Circle titled “The Statesman” focussing on the American counterpart to the Kingsman is also in development.
“The King’s Man” is set to have an India release on January 14, 2022. The film will be released in English and Hindi, announced 20th Century Studios. Originally slated for release in November 2019, the film had to be rescheduled multiple times due to the pandemic. It is based on the comic book 'The Secret Service' by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons.
|