Just when it seemed like Rian Johnson's Knives Out 2 had cast every single notable actor in Hollywood, Kingsman and Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn has stepped up to gather up any available actor who hasn't been whisked to Greece to listen to Daniel Craig talk about doughnuts.
The Layer Cake filmmaker is set to direct Argylle, a globe-trotting adventure about "the world's greatest spy" based on a yet-unpublished novel by Ellie Conway.
While this interpretation of "world's greatest spy" is not former title holder Sterling Archer, we like to imagine Witcher and Man of Steel star Henry Cavill was cast in the lead due to his resemblance to the animated hero. Either way, this is a solid consolation prize for the lack of a The Man From U.N.C.L.E. sequel.
Yesterday, it was revealed that Future Nostalgia pop star Dua Lipa would make her big-screen debut alongside Cavill, presumably because doppelgänger Gal Gadot was busy with Netflix's globe-trotting espionage thriller Red Notice starring Ryan Reynolds and Dwayne Johnson.
Lipa will also provide music for the film.
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While Argylle's plot is under wraps, it's enticing enough to draw some megawatt star power. Lipa and Cavill will be joined by Samuel L. Jackson, Schitt's Creek's Catherine O'Hara, Oscar winner Sam Rockwell, Jurassic World's Bryce Dallas Howard, Suicide Squad's John Cena and Breaking Bad legend Bryan Cranston.
"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," Vaughn, who has riffed on Bond across multiple Kingsman films, said in a statement carried by Deadline. "This is going to reinvent the spy genre."
According to Slashfilm, Argylle is intended to launch a three-film franchise based on the book, which releases next year. Shooting begins next month.
Argylle will have some stiff competition in the world of A-list adaptations of pulpy, globe-trotting spy novels. Along with Red Notice, Netflix has tapped Avengers: Endgame directors Anthony and Joe Russo to adapt the incredibly named Joe Shrapnel's The Gray Man series, hoping to launch a franchise with stars Chris Evans, Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas, Alfre Woodward, Regé-Jean Page and Billy Bob Thornton.