48-410: Matthew Allard de Vere Drummond (born Matthew Allard Robert Vaughn ; 7 March 1971), known professionally as Matthew Vaughn , is an English filmmaker. He has produced films including Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000), and directed Layer Cake (2004), Stardust (2007), Kick-Ass (2010), X-Men: First Class (2011), and Argylle (2024). Vaughn also co-created
96-624: A Red Diamond computer and uploads an override to delete the Red Diamond virus. In the epilogue, a ceremony is held in Eggsy's honour. Several esteemed guests are invited—including Prince Philip, who wants to apologise and shake Eggsy's hand. However, Eggsy instead takes his family and Kwaito to his favourite pub. A stand-alone five-page one-shot , Kingsman: The Secret Service: Mum's the Word , written by Phillip Huxley and illustrated by Myron Macklin,
144-497: A bankrupt lord. After the incompetent thieves unwittingly sell them to Nick "the Greek", a local fence , Barry threatens them into retrieving the guns. Meanwhile, Eddie returns home and overhears his neighbours, a gang of robbers led by a brutal man called "Dog", planning a heist on some cannabis growers loaded with cash and drugs. He tells the other three and they decide to rob the neighbours after they return from their heist. Tom buys
192-576: A confused Arnold. In an epilogue, Gary reads his uncle's will, revealing that two-thirds of Jack's estate will go to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and the British Heart Foundation , the final third going to Gary's mother, informing Gary to take good care of his gadget-laden car, or he will "come back and bloody haunt him." As Gary reports to Kingsman Headquarters, Sir Giles briefs him about
240-491: A few weeks. Aged 25, Vaughn produced a low-budget thriller, The Innocent Sleep (1996), starring Annabella Sciorra and Michael Gambon . He continued as a producer on close friend Guy Ritchie 's film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels . The film was a critical, popular and financial success, earning Vaughn and Ritchie £9 million each. Vaughn would later produce Ritchie's Snatch and Swept Away . Vaughn made his directorial debut in 2004 with Layer Cake . The film
288-498: A global blackout. The Prime Minister of Britain receives a Betamax tape from the head of the Red Diamond, self-made South African mining magnate Jakobis Du Preez, who explains his plans to replace the world's physical money with gold and jewels; in a separate tape, he invites the "Kings and Queens of the new material world" to a remote location in the Hunan Province , China . Eggsy and Kwaito independently go undercover to
336-571: A gross of $ 18.9 million. It was released on 5 March 1999 in the United States, where its total gross was $ 3,753,929 (equivalent to $ 6,865,956 in 2023). On Rotten Tomatoes , the film has an approval rating of 75% based on 67 reviews, with an average rating of 6.70/10. The site's critical consensus reads, " Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels is a grimy, twisted, and funny twist on the Tarantino hip gangster formula". On Metacritic ,
384-648: A group of pro-Brexit terrorists, "The Union Jacks", disguised as French activists to steal the gold back for the UK. It is eventually revealed that Eggsy's mission is in fact a decoy so that Kingsman themselves can destroy "The Union Jacks" and swipe the gold from both the British Parliament and the European Union and use it to fund hospitals and education services back in England. In 2014, a film series
432-546: A mission that concerns "trouble in Moscow ". The second volume, Kingsman: The Red Diamond , written by Rob Williams and illustrated by Simon Fraser , was released through Image Comics in September 2017, taking place over the course of one week. After knocking out Prince Philip following saving him from a group of Greek terrorists ignorant of the fact that the prince is Greek himself, Gary "Eggsy" Unwin ( retconned to have
480-543: A satellite signal to make the poor of humanity slaughter each other to solve the overpopulation problem, London is killed by Arnold for sleeping with his girlfriend, unaware of his Kingsman allegiance. Horrified by his uncle's death, and learning that Arnold is supported by higher-level members of Kingsman, Gary recruits his fellow trainees to an assault mission on Arnold's base, hidden inside a mountain in Switzerland . After ambushing and battling Arnold's troops, freeing
528-575: A trilogy, under the working titles Vram and Kick-Ass . On 25 May 2002, Vaughn married German supermodel Claudia Schiffer in Suffolk. The couple have a son and two daughters, the youngest born in 2010. They have homes in Notting Hill , London , Northamptonshire and Coldham Hall , Stanningfield , Suffolk . Producer only Executive producer Producer Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
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#1732780560101576-698: Is a 1998 neo-noir black comedy crime film written and directed by Guy Ritchie . It follows a heist involving a confident young card sharp who loses £500,000 to a powerful crime lord in a rigged game of three-card brag , prompting him to pay off his debts by enlisting his friends to help him rob a small-time gang operating out of the apartment next door. It stars an ensemble cast featuring Jason Flemyng , Dexter Fletcher , Nick Moran , Jason Statham , Steven Mackintosh , Vinnie Jones , and Sting . The film brought Ritchie international acclaim and introduced Statham (a former diver) and Jones (a former footballer) to worldwide audiences in their feature film debuts. It
624-442: Is an American comic book series that debuted in 2012 with the first graphic novel , subtitled The Secret Service . Three sequels, subtitled Mum's the Word , The Big Exit , and The Red Diamond , followed in 2016, 2017, and 2018 respectively. The series, following the recruitment of Gary London (later renamed Eggsy Unwin), into a secret spy organization by his uncle, Jack London, and his subsequent world-saving adventures,
672-464: Is rigged and they wind up owing £500,000 to Harry, to be paid within a week. Harry sends his debt collector Big Chris to Eddie's father JD, since Harry's true intention is to acquire JD's bar in payment of the debt. Also interested in two expensive antique Holland & Holland shotguns up for auction, Harry gets his enforcer Barry "the Baptist" to hire two thieves, Gary and Dean, to steal them from
720-503: Is set over the course of three years. Gary London is recruited by his uncle, Caractacus "Jack" London, to work for Kingsman, the British Secret Service . Gary is put on an extensive three-year training course, performing various assassinations and apprehending a Colombian drug lord. While investigating a series of celebrity kidnappings perpetrated by Dr. James Arnold, a very wealthy cellphone entrepreneur who plans to use
768-568: The Kingsman comic book series and resulting franchise , directing, producing and co-writing the films Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014), Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017), and The King's Man (2021). Vaughn was born in Paddington, London, England. Until 2002, he had thought that he was the child of a relationship between his mother, Kathy Ceaton (died 20 July 2013), and American actor Robert Vaughn . A paternity investigation in
816-410: The Kingsman sequel , Kingsman: The Golden Circle , which was released in theaters in September 2017. Vaughn also directed and provided the story for The King's Man , the third installment in the franchise serving as a prequel to the original film. Delayed from November 2019 due to both the schedule shuffle following Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox and the subsequent COVID-19 pandemic ,
864-503: The 100 best British films. A spin-off television series, co-written by Ritchie was developed for Channel 4 . The show featured a new cast of characters: Moon, Jamie, Bacon, and Lee (portrayed by Daniel Caltagirone , Scott Maslen , Shaun Parkes , and Del Synnott , respectively); who comedically fail at various criminal business ventures, similar to the cast of the feature film. Lock, Stock... aired from May 29 through July 11, 2000. The Secret Service (comics) Kingsman
912-629: The 1980s revealed that Robert Vaughn was not his father, but Ceaton had never revealed otherwise to Vaughn. Upon asking his mother about his true paternity, she revealed that his father was George Albert Harley de Vere Drummond, an English banker. Early in Vaughn's life, before the paternity investigation, Robert Vaughn had asked for the child's surname to be Vaughn, and it continues as Vaughn's professional name, though he uses de Vere Drummond in his personal life, having changed it by deed poll in May 2002. Vaughn
960-510: The 2023 crossover event Big Game . In 2014, a film series was launched with a direct adaptation of The Secret Service , starring Taron Egerton and Colin Firth and directed by Vaughn, followed by the original storyline sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle in 2017 and prequel The King's Man in 2021, starring Ralph Fiennes . The first volume, The Secret Service (2012–13), written by Mark Millar and illustrated by Dave Gibbons ,
1008-460: The SASS. Upon finding him, Eggsy is confronted by Kwaito – a SASS agent, and Ingot – a Red Diamond agent. Upon restraining Alias, Alias explains that he was trying to shut down the servers in the financial district to protect them from a virus released by the Red Diamond's agent. Ingot kills Alias and makes his escape, trapping Eggsy and Kwaito. Once he leaves, the virus is unleashed worldwide, causing
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#17327805601011056-442: The captured celebrities, including Pierce Brosnan , Patrick Stewart and David Beckham , Gary engages in a fist fight with Arnold's henchman and former Kingsman agent Gazelle, and leaves to confront Arnold. Arnold activates the satellite signal and waits for the people to slaughter each other, but instead, due to one of Gary's colleagues having changed the frequency, people worldwide begin to have sex with one another. Gary then kills
1104-478: The cash but Big Chris arrives, incapacitates him, and takes both. Attempting to recover the guns, Gary and Dean follow Chris, oblivious to the fact that Chris is bringing them to Harry. Having delivered the money and guns to Harry, Chris returns to his car to find Dog holding his son Little Chris at knifepoint, demanding the cash be returned to him. Chris complies and starts the car. Meanwhile, Gary and Dean burst into Harry's office. The ensuing confrontation results in
1152-419: The deaths of Gary, Dean, Barry and Harry. Having discovered the carnage at their flat and their loot missing, the four friends head to Harry's office, finding a second set of corpses, and decide to take the money for themselves. Chris deliberately crashes into their car to disable Dog and then fatally bludgeons him with his car door. He then retrieves the cash from the unconscious Eddie but allows Tom to leave with
1200-406: The event only for Du Preez to set off a bomb to get rid of "the competition". Retrieving a map to the Red Diamond base from Ingot and crashing into a forest with Kwaito, Eggsy and Kwaito make love. Later finding civilization and a phone to use, Eggsy discovers that Kwaito has stolen the map. Having memorized it, Eggsy travels to Guam where he is reunited with Kwaito. Making their way inside the base,
1248-550: The film has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100 based on 30 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". John Ferguson in Radio Times called the film "the best British crime movie since The Long Good Friday ". Roger Ebert in Chicago Sun-Times wrote: " Lock, Stock is fun, in a slapdash way; it has an exuberance, and in a time when movies follow formulas like zombies, it's alive". The film
1296-727: The film was released on 22 December 2021. In March 2017, Collider reported that Vaughn was top choice to direct Man of Steel 2 ; in September of that year, Vaughn confirmed that he was in negotiations with the studio to helm the project. By March 2019, Vaughn stated that discussions with Warner Bros. had ended, and he was no longer involved with development of the film. Vaughn began working on spy film Argylle in 2021, an original story written by Jason Fuchs and starring an ensemble cast including Henry Cavill , Sam Rockwell , Bryce Dallas Howard , Samuel L. Jackson , Bryan Cranston and John Cena . The film premiered in January 2024, and
1344-458: The first film in the prequel trilogy of the X-Men film universe titled, X-Men: First Class (2011). Vaughn was signed to return to the series as director of the sequel, X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), but dropped out in favour of Bryan Singer who had directed the first two films in the original trilogy, X-Men and X2: X-Men United . Vaughn remained attached to the film by co-writing
1392-484: The future. Chris then returns the bag, from which he has taken all the cash for himself and his son and which is now empty save for a catalogue of antique weapons. Leafing through the catalogue, the three friends learn that the shotguns are actually far more valuable than they had realised and frantically call Tom to dissuade him from disposing of them. The film ends with Tom leaning over Southwark Bridge , holding his mobile phone ringing in his mouth, as he prepares to drop
1440-568: The guns into the River Thames . The soundtrack to the film was released in 1998 in the United Kingdom by Island Records . Madonna 's Maverick Records label released the soundtrack in the United States in 1999 but omitted nine tracks from the UK release. * Track omitted from 1999 US release. The production of the film followed Guy Ritchie's single short film which preceded Lock, Stock . As stated in filmscouts.com: Although it
1488-420: The most incredible respect for his acting capabilities." A one-hour documentary of the production of the film was released featuring much of the cast along with Ritchie. Locations include Shoreditch for the gang hideout and Clerkenwell for JD's bar. The film was released on 28 August 1998 in the United Kingdom and was the second-highest grossing local production for the year behind Sliding Doors with
Matthew Vaughn - Misplaced Pages Continue
1536-424: The pair find Du Preez sitting naked on a hill of jewels and gold bars. Du Preez explains that they cannot kill him lest a fail-safe he attached to his heart open the airlocks and kill everyone. After a confrontation with Ingot, Eggsy shoots Du Preez with a poisonous spy-dart which will slowly kill him, and makes his escape with Kwaito and Treeman, a hacker held captive by Du Preez. While fleeing, Treeman gains access to
1584-415: The right actor for each role was essential. "The casting took forever and we auditioned hundreds of people, but I was determined to hold out until we got the real McCoy." This led to employing several genuine ex-cons, who certainly invest the film with its menacing undertones. Ritchie also looked to the celebrity arena to secure the right cast such as Vinnie Jones. "I didn't hesitate in casting Vinnie as I have
1632-562: The room. A stand-alone six-page one-shot , Kingsman: The Big Exit , was published in the September/October 2017 issue of Playboy Magazine , written by Rob Williams and illustrated by Ozgur Yildirim. Set shortly after Brexit , The Big Exit follows Gary "Eggsy" Unwin ( retconned to have the same surname as his film counterpart) as he is tasked with safeguarding the controversial "divorce fee" on its journey to Brussels , consisting of £100 billion in solid gold bars, from
1680-565: The same surname as his film counterpart) is put on a week-long leave of absence. Returning to Kingsman headquarters to retrieve a pill to treat his little brother Ryan's norovirus , an alert comes in from the South African Secret Service (SASS) regarding an encrypted message sent to a wanted hacker named Alias at Times Square in Manhattan . As the only agent present, Eggsy is sent out on a rocket to find Alias before
1728-499: The script. Vaughn's next directorial project, was Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014), an adaptation of the comic book The Secret Service created by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons from a concept by Millar and an initially uncredited Vaughn himself (Vaughn being credited as the comic's co-creator on all republications since 2014). The film was scripted by Vaughn and Jane Goldman, and produced by Vaughn's production company Marv Films. Vaughn returned to direct, produce, and co-write
1776-411: The shotguns after a brief stand-off. The friends are arrested but soon released after the warden identifies Dog and his crew as the culprits. Back at the bar, Eddie, Bacon and Soap dispatch Tom to discard the guns, as they are the only remaining evidence linking them to the case. While Tom is away, Chris arrives to announce his intentions of leaving the friends alone, but warns them not to seek him out in
1824-405: The shotguns from Nick (both unaware of their true value), for use in the plan. Dog's gang execute their heist, and despite a gang member's death by his own Bren gun and an incriminating encounter with a traffic warden , they succeed, returning with a duffel bag full of money and a van loaded with bags of cannabis. Eddie and his friends ambush them and escape in the van containing the cannabis and
1872-465: The two surviving growers, Winston, to identify the robbers. While the friends celebrate at JD's bar, Dog's crew, having accidentally discovered that they were robbed by their neighbours, set up an ambush in Eddie's flat. Rory and his gang arrive at the flat instead and in the ensuing shoot-out, all except Dog and Winston are killed. Winston leaves with the drugs. Dog attempts to escape with the shotguns and
1920-471: The warden. They transfer the loot to their own van and return home, knocking out the warden and dumping him by the road before arranging for Nick to fence the drugs to violent gangster Rory Breaker. Rory agrees to buy the cannabis at half price but two of his men visit the house of the growers, discover that they have been robbed and the cannabis he just bought has been stolen from his own growers. Rory threatens Nick into giving him Eddie's address and tasks one of
1968-470: Was Ritchie's first feature, his previous short film The Hard Case was sufficiently impressive to secure interest not only from financial backers but also persuaded Sting to take the role of JD. "I'd seen Guy's short film and was excited by the pace and energy in it. The way in which he handles violence and action appealed to me. I don't like gratuitous violence. I think it's much more chilling when it's suggested rather than graphic." For Ritchie, getting exactly
Matthew Vaughn - Misplaced Pages Continue
2016-445: Was also a commercial success, grossing over $ 28 million at the box office against a $ 1.35 million budget. A television spin-off called Lock, Stock... followed in 2000, running for seven episodes. Long-time friends and small-time London criminals Eddie, Tom, Soap, and Bacon put together £100,000 so that Eddie, a card sharp , can participate in one of "Hatchet" Harry Lonsdale's high-stakes three-card brag games. The game, however,
2064-586: Was educated at Sussex House School in London and then Stowe School in Buckingham . Taking a gap year between Stowe and university, he travelled around the world on a Hard Rock Cafe tour. After arriving in Los Angeles he began working as an assistant to a film director. He later returned to London, and attended University College London studying anthropology and ancient history . He dropped out after
2112-687: Was initially published simply as The Secret Service before being rebranded following the release of the first film adaptation of the series . The series was created by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons from a concept by Millar and an uncredited Matthew Vaughn , and set in Millar's shared universe , the Millarworld , with the celebrity kidnappings taking place in the first volume being referenced in Kick Ass: The Dave Lizewski Years Book Four , leading into
2160-556: Was nominated for a British Academy Film Award in 1998 for the outstanding British Film of the Year. In 1999, it was nominated for a Brit Award for Soundtrack/Cast Recording . In 2000, Ritchie won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Motion Picture Screenplay. In 2004, Total Film named it the 38th greatest British film of all time. In 2016, Empire magazine ranked Lock, Stock 75th on their list of
2208-452: Was published in the anthology annual Millarworld Annual 2016 in June 2016. Set sometime after The Secret Service , Mum's the Word follows Gary "Eggsy" London as he visits his mother to find a Russian assassin (Billy) waiting for him, after he had foiled his terrorist group's attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth on her birthday earlier that day, whom he kills while his mother is out of
2256-527: Was released by Universal Pictures and Apple Original Films . In January 2024, Vaughn announced that he would be producing a third Kick-Ass film, titled Stuntnuts Does School Fight , directed by his longtime stunt coordinator Damien Walters in his feature film debut, which had secretly already been greenlit and had completed filming. also announcing two further films in the Hit-Girl & Kick-Ass franchise to be in development, to be produced by him as
2304-479: Was well received and its success led to Vaughn being tapped to direct X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), but he dropped out only two weeks before filming began. Subsequently, he said the film was "pretty good" given the limited time they had to make it, but he was critical of Brett Ratner 's direction of the film. For his next project he co-wrote and directed Stardust , followed by a movie adaptation of Mark Millar 's Kick-Ass in 2010. Vaughn directed and co-wrote
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