Matthew Vaughn’s latest project, The King’s Man, hasn’t been particularly well-received by critics. Problems began early, with the release date being pushed several times, and now the box office returns aren’t looking great either. Still, fans of the franchise will find plenty of things to appreciate about the spy movie.
Those who’ve watched The King’s Man are already familiar with the entire plot. However, a lot went on behind the scenes and this isn’t common knowledge. Fans of the franchise will definitely want to find out more than what they know already.
The King’s Man Had A Different Working Title
According to The Mirror, The King’s Man‘s first working title was Kingsman: The Great Game. The term “The Great Game” was historically used to describe the political face-off between Russia and England in the 19th century.
Changing the title was definitely a good idea since “The Great Game” might have fooled some fans into thinking it had a contest-like plot. After all, not everyone is familiar with historical terms. The current title works better because it fights right in with the previous title. It’s very accurate too since Orlando, one of the most likable characters in The King’s Man, is the Duke of Oxford and one of the king’s most trusted men. Moreover, he is the founder of the Kingsman Secret Service agency.
It’s The Only Movie Matthew Vaughn Has Written Without Jane Goldman
English screenwriter and author Jane Goldman has co-written with The King’s Man‘s director Matthew Vaughn on all his previous movies except the current one. This time she was replaced with Karl Gajdusek.
Plots make or break a movie and Jane’s absence was felt. Her Midas touch was clearly lacking and as such, The King’s Man has become the only installment in the franchise to receive poor reviews. Her replacement Karl Gajdusek doesn’t have a good track record either, with one of his latest projects, The Last Days of American Crime, also getting poor reviews.
Several Big Names Were Considered For Roles In The King’s Man
A couple of major stars could have appeared in the movie if negotiations had gone well. These include Nicolas Cage, Rachel Weisz, and Brad Pitt.
Fans would definitely be surprised to learn that Nicolas Cage could have had a part to play since the once-popular action star has focussed his efforts on indie projects rather than blockbusters in recent years. But if his performance in the 2021 drama Pig is anything to go by, he still has what it takes to perform at the top level.
Three Of The Cast Members Have Appeared In A Bond Movie
Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, and Neil Jackson have all appeared in a James Bond movie. Gemma and Neil appeared in Quantum of Solace, while Ralph Fiennes has portrayed M since Judi Dench’s departure.
Actors tend to be typecast a lot in Hollywood and Ralph Fiennes appears to be falling into this category lately. His role as Orlando isn’t that different from his role as M since both are bosses of their respective intelligence organizations. And while the latest effort cannot be considered one of the best spy movies of all time, it still does plenty of similarities with the Bond franchise.
The King’s Man’s Release Date Was Changed Eight Times
The King’s Man is the only movie in recent memory to have the release date changed more than six times. First meant to be released on Nov. 9, 2019, it was pushed to Feb. 14, 2020. then Sept. 18, 2020, before being pushed to Feb. 26, 2021 once again. Other dates were March 12th, Aug. 20, and then the final one of Dec. 22.
The frequent changes might seem like confusion on the studio’s part but it mostly had to do with the pandemic. With COVID-19 proving to be a tooth pain that won’t go away, most studios have been trying to work around it by finding the most suitable dates to maximize profits. That multiple delays don’t appear to have paid off since the spy movie is yet to break even.
The King’s Man Is Technically A Marvel Movie
The Kingsman franchise is adapted from the comic book series by Icon Comics, which is an imprint of Marvel Comics. This technically makes The King’s Man the 6th Marvel-related movie of 2021.
Matthew Vaughn appears to be particularly in love with Icon Comics since he has adapted a number of stories there, including those involving the superhero, Kick-Ass. There is still plenty of other material so hopefully, he’ll get to pluck more characters from the pages and bring them to the big screen.
The King’s Man’s Cinematographer Left Early
The movie’s first cinematographer, Ben Davis, had to leave production early because he had also been hired to work on Eternals. This meant the final reshoots had to be completed by a different team.
Since both movies have been critically panned, some might point an accusing finger on Ben Davis for not focussing his efforts on one project, hence compromising both. However, the cinematography hasn’t been singled out for criticism in either project. In fact, The King’s Man has such great visuals that comparisons have been made to one of Sam Mendes’ best movies’ the 2019 release, 1917.
Disney Had To Release The King’s Man In Theaters
Despite Disney having acquired 2oth Century Fox, it couldn’t release The King’s Man on Disney+ due to contractual obligations. A clause stated that all movies that 2oth Century Fox had intended to release theatrically should indeed follow that route.
Perhaps a Disney+ release would have been a better release given the current climate. But even though that hasn’t happened, those who opted not to go watch in theaters can be guaranteed access to it on the streaming service sometime in the near future. And hopefully, the studio will get to make some more money on it then.
The King’s Man Was Bradley Allan’s Last Movie
Legendary stuntman Bradley James Allan has movie credits ranging from multiple Jackie Chan productions to Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The 10 Rings. Sadly, The King’s Man was the last project he worked on.
Stunt performers rarely get the recognition they deserve in Hollywood but that has never deterred them from doing their best. Having worked in over 20 action-packed movies, there’s no doubt that Allan was extremely good at his job. Hopefully, people in his profession will get to be celebrated more in the future.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson Declined A Role In The First Kingsman Movie
Aaron Taylor-Johnson who plays the Lancelot, Lee Unwin, was offered the role of Lee’s son Eggsy in the first installment, but he declined. Luckily, he was approached again, and this time he accepted.
Skepticism tends to be a common thing with actors but after seeing how successful what they rejected has turned out to be, they always change their minds. Most never get the chance to be offered similar roles to the ones they declined but luckily for Aaron Taylor-Johnson, he had worked with Vaughn before hence there was no bad blood.
