''The King's Man'' is a 2021 spy

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

directed by Matthew Vaughn from his story and a screenplay he wrote with Karl Gajdusek. The third instalment in the British ''Kingsman'' film series, which is based on the comic book '' The Secret Service'' (later retitled ''Kingsman'') by

Mark Millar Mark Millar (; born 24 December 1969) is a Scottish comic book writer who first came to prominence with a run on the superhero series ''The Authority (comics), The Authority'', published by DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint. Millar has written ext ...

and Dave Gibbons, in turn based on a concept by Millar and Vaughn, it is a prequel to '' Kingsman: The Secret Service'' (2014) and '' Kingsman: The Golden Circle'' (2017). Its

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to the po ...

includes

Ralph Fiennes Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (; born 22 December 1962) is an English actor, film producer, and director. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Ralph Fiennes, various accolades, including a British Academy Film ...

(also one of its executive producers), Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans, Matthew Goode, Tom Hollander, Harris Dickinson, Daniel Brühl, Djimon Hounsou, and Charles Dance. It focuses on several events during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the birth of the Kingsman organisation. It was released in the United States on 22 December 2021, and in the United Kingdom on 26 December 2021 by

20th Century Studios 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

following several release delays partially due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $126 million against nearly a $100 million budget, making it a

box-office bomb A box-office bomb is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the combined production budget, marketing, and distribution costs exceed the revenue after release has te ...

Plot

In 1902, nearing the end of the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

aristocrat Orlando, Duke of Oxford, his wife Emily, and their young son Conrad visit a British concentration camp in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

while working for the British Red Cross. A sniper attack on the camp mortally wounds Emily; before dying, she makes Orlando promise never to let their son see war again. Twelve years later, Orlando has formed a private spy network with his servants, butler Shola and maid Polly Wilkins, employed by the world's most powerful dignitaries. Conrad is eager to fight, but Orlando forbids him to join the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

and persuades Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener not to let him do so. At Kitchener's request, Conrad and Orlando ride with Orlando's friends, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, through

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

. Conrad saves the Archduke from a bomb thrown by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb intent on sparking a war. Princip later reencounters the Archduke's entourage by chance and fatally shoots him and his wife, starting

. Orlando learns that the assassination was orchestrated by "The Flock": a group plotting to pit the German, Russian, and British empires against each other, led by the mysterious "Shepherd", whose ultimate goal is Scottish independence; his operatives include Russian mystic

Grigori Rasputin Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin ( – ) was a Russian Mysticism, mystic and faith healer. He is best known for having befriended the imperial family of Nicholas II of Russia, Nicholas II, the last Emperor of all the Russias, Emperor of Russia, th ...

, trusted adviser to Tsar Nicholas of Russia. Rasputin poisons Nicholas's young son Alexei, only to cure him after Nicholas promises to pull out of the war. Conrad is notified of Rasputin's manipulation by his cousin, Prince Felix Yusupov. Knowing the Western Front will be left vulnerable if Russia exits the war, Conrad delivers this information to Kitchener and his aide-de-camp Major Max Morton, who sets sail for Russia. Their ship, , is torpedoed by a submarine and sunk. Word of Kitchener's death reaches Orlando, spurring him to travel to Russia with Shola, Polly, and Conrad to kill Rasputin. After a gruelling fight, the four kill Rasputin at a Christmas party hosted by Felix. To keep the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

from entering the war, Erik Jan Hanussen, an adviser to Kaiser Wilhelm II, sends the Zimmermann Telegram, encouraging

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

to invade the United States. Although British Intelligence intercepts the message, Polly deciphers it, but American President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

refuses to join the war, citing a lack of concrete proof. The Shepherd recruits

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

to overthrow the Tsar and remove Russia from the war, sending an assassin to execute the Romanov family. Conrad is commissioned into the

Grenadier Guards The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS) is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect ...

against his father's wishes. King George V arranges to have him assigned to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Determined to fight in the war, Conrad swaps places with Scottish soldier Archie Reid, giving him the nickname "Lancelot" to send his father a message. Disguised as Archie, a member of the Black Watch, Conrad volunteers for a mission into no man's land to retrieve information from a wounded British agent. Upon his return, a fellow soldier who knows Archie accuses him of being a German spy and shoots him dead, devastating Orlando. The information he recovered verifies the authenticity of the Zimmermann Telegram. After Wilson again refuses to enter the war despite Conrad's proof, Orlando learns that the President is being blackmailed with footage of being seduced by Shepherd's agent, Mata Hari, and resolves to recover the negatives. Upon defeating Mata Hari at the American embassy, Orlando identifies her cashmere scarf and locates its origin. Orlando parachutes onto the mountaintop sanctuary of the Shepherd, who is revealed to be Morton. Morton had arranged Kitchener's assassination and faked his own death. Orlando fights and kills him with Shola's help. Polly recovers the film, which is delivered to Wilson. He then burns it and brings the United States into the war. After the war, Orlando purchases the Kingsman Tailor Shop as a front for his organisation. Orlando, Shola, Polly, King George V, Archie, and the US Ambassador to the UK form the original Kingsmen, each being assigned a codename from the

King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...

legend to honour Conrad. In a mid-credit scene, Hanussen, having assumed command of Shepherd's organisation, introduces Lenin to the Romanovs' assassin,

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

Cast

In addition, Aaron Taylor-Johnson portrays Archie Reid, a soldier and founding Kingsman

Lancelot Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), alternatively written as Launcelot and other variants, is a popular character in the Matter of Britain, Arthurian legend's chivalric romance tradition. He is typically depicted as King Arthu ...

, whilst Stanley Tucci appears as the US Ambassador to the UK and founding Kingsman Bedivere.

Production

Development

In June 2018, Matthew Vaughn announced that a prequel film titled ''Kingsman: The Great Game'' was in active development, stating that the plot would take place during the early 1900s and would depict the formation of the spy agency and that the project would film back-to-back with "the third regular ''Kingsman'' film" which was scheduled to be released in 2021. Vaughn was inspired to write the script for the prequel film after watching '' The Man Who Would Be King''.

Casting

In September 2018, it was announced that

and Harris Dickinson would star in the prequel with the former also serving as one of the executive producers of the film. In November 2018, it was revealed that Daniel Brühl, Charles Dance, Rhys Ifans and Matthew Goode would co-star in the film. In February 2019, it was reported that Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Gemma Arterton, Tom Hollander, Djimon Hounsou, Alison Steadman, Stanley Tucci, Robert Aramayo and Neil Jackson had joined the cast. In April 2019, it was announced Alexandra Maria Lara had joined the cast of the film. Later in May, Joel Basman joined the cast. That same month, as filming concluded, Vaughn denied reports that Liam Neeson had joined the cast. Vaughn also said ''The Great Game'' was a working title and the film would not have that name.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began 22 January 2019 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. In April 2019, some scenes were shot in

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, Po river's street, street of city and in two palaces close to it; Venaria Reale: the Palace of Venaria and royal gardens; Nichelino, Palazzina di caccia of Stupinigi and surroundings; Racconigi (

Cuneo Cuneo (; ; ; ) is a city and in Piedmont, Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the fourth largest of Italy’s provinces by area. It is located at 550 metres (1,804 ft) in the south-west of Piedmont, at the confluence of the ri ...

), Castle of Racconigi. The film's initial cinematographer Ben Davis had to depart the project during reshoots due to his commitments to '' Eternals''. Vaughn admitted some scenes had to be cut from the film because they were "way too Kingsman-y.", and that this film needed to find a balance between the fun tone of the other ''

Kingsman Kingsman or King's man may refer to: * Kingsman (rank), a British Army rank Arts and media * Kingsman (franchise), ''Kingsman'' (franchise) ** Kingsman (comic book), ''Kingsman'' (comic book), the basis for the franchise ** ''Kingsman: The Secre ...

'' movies and respect for historical accuracy and the characters. He revealed that he had originally written three scenes featuring Rasputin that would have been so explicit that they likely would have received an NC-17 rating.

Soundtrack

Matthew Margeson, who worked with Henry Jackman in the previous ''Kingsman'' films, composed the film score with Dominic Lewis.

Hollywood Records Hollywood Records is an American record label owned by the Disney Music Group which focuses on pop, rock, alternative, hip hop and country genres, also specializing in recordings for a more mature audience not suitable for the flagship Wal ...

released the soundtrack digitally on 22 December 2021. The ending theme is "Measure of a Man" by

FKA Twigs Tahliah Debrett Barnett (born 16 January 1988), known professionally as FKA Twigs (stylized as FKA twigs), is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and dancer. She was a backup dancer for numerous musicians, and made her musica ...

featuring Central Cee.

Release

''The King's Man'' had its world premiere in

on 5 December 2021 and was theatrically released on 22 December 2021, its eighth proposed release date and more than two years after it was originally due to come out. It was originally scheduled to be released on 8 November 2019, but was pushed back first to 15 November 2019, then to 14 February 2020, and then to 18 September 2020. The release date was again pushed back by

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is an American film distributor within the Disney Entertainment division of the Walt Disney Company. It handles theatrical and occasional digital distribution, marketing, and promotion for films produced and ...

to 26 February 2021, due to the

. Following the delay of Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Four films, ''The King's Man'' was moved up two weeks to 12 February 2021, before being moved again to 12 March 2021. In January 2021, the release date was delayed again to 20 August 2021. In March 2021, it was further delayed to the December 2021 date. The film played in cinemas for 45 days before heading to digital platforms.

Home media

The film started streaming on

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

through

Star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

in the UK, Ireland, Japan, and South Korea on 9 February 2022 and later that February for Australia and New Zealand and Canada. It streamed on HBO Max and

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

on 18 February and on Star+ on 2 March. The film streamed on Disney+ Hotstar on 23 February 2022 in Southeast Asia. The film was released on

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD by 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment on 22 February.

Reception

Box office

''The King's Man'' grossed $37.2million in the US and Canada, and $88.8million in other territories, for a worldwide total $126million. In the US and Canada, ''The King's Man'' was released alongside ''

Sing 2 ''Sing 2'' is a 2021 American animated jukebox musical comedy film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination (company), Illumination, and distributed by Universal. The sequel to ''Sing (2016 American film), Sing'' (2016), it was written ...

'' and '' The Matrix Resurrections''. It was originally projected to gross $15–20 million from 3,175 screens over its first five days of release. It went on to under-perform, grossing $5.9 million in its opening weekend and an estimated $10 million over the five days, finishing fifth at the box office, with contributing factors such as the reluctance to go to cinemas during the pandemic, the rise of the Omicron variant of COVID and being released during the second weekend of '' Spider-Man: No Way Home''. Men made up 65% of the audience during its opening, with those in the age range of 18–34 comprising 54% of ticket sales and those above 35 comprising 40%. The film earned $4.6 million in its second weekend, $3.2 million in its third, $2.2 million in its fourth, $1.8 million in its fifth, $1.66 million in its sixth, $1.2 million in its seventh, and $426,262 in its eighth. Outside the US and Canada, the film earned $6.9 million in its opening weekend, including $3.5 million in South Korea, $2.1 million in Japan, and $600,000 in Indonesia. In its second weekend, the film made $14.1 million from 22 markets. In Taiwan, the film opened with $2.8 million, making it the fourth-best opening of 2021 in the country. In its third weekend, the film earned $13.4 million, including $1.6 million from Germany, where it debuted in second place at the box office. The film made $10.2 million in its fourth weekend, $6.2 million in its fifth, $4.2 million in its sixth, and $2.7 million in its seventh.

Critical response

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

reported an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads, "Ralph Fiennes' solid central performance in ''The King's Man'' is done dirty by this tonally confused prequel's descent into action thriller tedium." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which uses a weighted average, the film has a score of 44 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported 77% of audience members gave it a positive score, with 60% saying they would definitely recommend it.

Audience viewership

2.2 million US households watched ''The King's Man'' during its first four days available for streaming, making it the most watched film across all platforms in the United States during the week of February 20, 2022.

Possible sequel

In December 2021, Matthew Vaughn stated that if a sequel were to be developed, he would like to see the story about the first decade of the Kingsman agency with all of the characters that the audience sees at the end. In October 2023, Vaughn announced a direct sequel, ''The King's Man: The Traitor King'', to be in active development, following the fictionalised rise of

(portrayed by David Kross) across the franchise's

alternate history Alternate history (also referred to as alternative history, allohistory, althist, or simply A.H.) is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have occurred but are resolved differently than in actual history. As ...

setting, with

, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Gemma Arterton, and Djimon Hounsou intended to reprise their roles. Despite this, in October 2024, during an interview with ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', 20th Century Studios executive Steve Asbell revealed that the studio has no plans for any Kingsman sequels or prequels.

Notes

References

External links