Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Kingsman: The Golden Circle is a 2017 British spy action comedy film directed by Matthew Vaughn and written by Jane Goldman and Vaughn. Based on the Millarworld comic book series The Secret Service (later retitled Kingsman) by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, in turn based on a concept by Millar and Vaughn, the film is the sequel to Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) and the second instalment in the Kingsman film series. The film features an ensemble cast consisting of Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, Mark Strong, Sophie Cookson, Edward Holcroft, and Hanna Alström, who reprise their roles from the first film, with Julianne Moore, Halle Berry, Pedro Pascal, Elton John, Channing Tatum, and Jeff Bridges joining the cast. The film follows members of Kingsman needing to team up with their American counterpart, Statesman, after the Kingsman organization is crippled and the world is held hostage by Poppy Adams and her drug cartel, "The Golden Circle."

Kingsman: The Golden Circle premiered in London on 18 September 2017 and was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on 20 September 2017. It grossed $410 million worldwide against a budget of $104 million and received mixed reviews from critics.

A prequel, The King's Man, was released on 22 December 2021, while a spin-off film, Argylle, was released on 1 February 2024.

Plot

A year after defeating Richmond Valentine, Gary "Eggsy" Unwin has officially joined the Kingsman intelligence service, taking his late mentor Harry Hart's title of "Galahad", and begun a relationship with Tilde, Crown Princess of Sweden. He is ambushed by Charlie Hesketh, a former Kingsman trainee who lost his arm and vocal cords during the Valentine incident, replacing them with cybernetics. Eggsy evades Charlie and his henchmen in a car chase across London, but Charlie's severed cybernetic arm hacks into the Kingsman database through Eggsy's car. Charlie passes the information to Poppy Adams – leader of the world's largest drug cartel, the Golden Circle – who launches missiles to destroy the Kingsman headquarters and wipe out all its agents in Britain.

Eggsy and Merlin survived the attack, and Kingsman's emergency protocol leads them to Statesman, an American private intelligence service posing as a Bourbon whiskey distillery in Kentucky, which also serves as Kingsman's American counterpart. There, they discover that Harry survived his shooting thanks to Statesman's nanotechnology but is suffering from amnesia. They also learn about the Golden Circle from Statesman leader Champagne, and the two agencies decide to collaborate to take down the cartel. Statesman agent Tequila develops a blue rash and exhibits signs of mania, resulting in his replacement by agent Whiskey as Eggsy's partner, while Merlin and Statesman Ginger Ale assist in curing Harry's amnesia. Eggsy implants a tracking device on Charlie's ex-girlfriend Clara during a sexual encounter at the Glastonbury Festival, but his disclosure of the mission to Tilde puts a strain on their relationship.

Eggsy cures Harry's amnesia by threatening to shoot a Cairn Terrier puppy that resembles Harry's late dog, shortly before Poppy broadcasts a message to the world about a toxin she has secretly added to all her drugs, which causes users to develop mania symptoms before paralysis and then, death. She offers the antidote if the U.S. President ends his country's war on drugs and grants her cartel legal immunity. The President – who is revealed to be corrupt – decides to quarantine everyone affected, intending to let them all die to put Poppy out of business and rid the world of drug users. Eggsy, Harry, and Whiskey track Clara to the Golden Circle's antidote factory in the mountains of Italy. Eggsy steals an antidote sample, but it is broken by Whiskey during an ambush by the Golden Circle's henchmen, leading Harry to suspect him of working against them. Harry shoots Whiskey, but Eggsy, believing Harry to be delusional due to his recovery, saves him with nanotechnology.

Simultaneously, Charlie destroys the antidote factory, killing Clara for unwittingly betraying the Golden Circle. Tilde calls Eggsy, revealing she has been affected by the blue rash after taking drugs due to her stress over Eggsy's infidelity. Eggsy, Harry, and Merlin discover the location of Poppy's hideout, "Poppy Land", in Cambodia and fly there to steal the laptop that can deploy drones carrying the antidote. Arriving at Poppy Land, Eggsy steps on a land mine before Merlin switches places with him, sacrificing himself instead. Storming the lair, Eggsy kills Charlie while Harry destroys Poppy's robotic attack dogs with the help of Elton John, who had been kidnapped by Poppy. They secure the laptop and inject Poppy with a concentrated dose of her own toxin-infused heroin. Poppy gives them the laptop password in a drugged state before she dies from an overdose.

Whiskey interrupts them before they can deploy the drones, revealing that he wants all drug users to die after his pregnant wife was killed in a robbery by methamphetamine addicts. Furthermore, the elimination of all drugs will cause Statesmen's stock price to skyrocket since people will depend on alcohol, making Whiskey and his Statesmen rich. Eggsy and Harry fight and kill Whiskey by pushing him into an industrial meat grinder, then deploy the drones to release the antidote, saving the affected victims. The President is impeached and arrested for conspiring to commit genocide against drug victims, and the Statesman purchases a distillery in Scotland to help rebuild the Kingsman. Ginger Ale is appointed to Whiskey's position; Eggsy marries Princess Tilde; and Tequila takes an exchange assignment at Kingsman, which acquires a new tailor shop in London.

Cast

In addition, Bruce Greenwood appears as the President of the United States, Michael Gambon portrays Arthur, Tobi Bakare returns as Eggsy's friend Jamal, and Poppy Delevingne portrays Charlie's ex-girlfriend Clara. Björn Granath (in his final film performance) and Lena Endre appear as the King and Queen of Sweden, and Samantha Womack returns briefly as Eggsy's mother, Michelle.

Production

Development

Near the release of Kingsman: The Secret Service, Mark Millar and Matthew Vaughn said a sequel would be possible if the first film was to perform well at the box office, and Vaughn expressed interest in returning to direct. Vaughn also noted that he had hoped to have Firth back in the sequel, though it was later stated that Firth would not be returning.

On 29 April 2015, Fox announced that a sequel was in production, but that it was unclear if Vaughn would return due to his interest in directing a Flash Gordon film. On 11 June 2015, Vaughn told Yahoo that he had begun writing the script for the sequel, and that he could return to direct. In September 2015, Millar reiterated that the sequel was in development and that Vaughn was looking for ways to bring Firth back without sacrificing the integrity of the story. Later that month, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Egerton had also signed on for a new Robin Hood film, which was then set to begin shooting in February 2016; Egerton's schedule was thus in conflict with the Kingsman sequel. However, in mid-October, it was confirmed that scheduling issues had been settled between both studios. Lionsgate began Robin Hood's production right after Egerton wrapped filming on Kingsman: The Golden Circle, which began in May 2016.

Casting

On 17 February 2016, it was revealed that Julianne Moore was in negotiations to play the villain in the film. On 10 March 2016, Halle Berry was cast in the film, in a role that later turned out to be the Statesman's tech support. In late March, Vaughn confirmed Berry's and Moore's casting, as well as the title, Kingsman: The Golden Circle. On 8 April 2016, Pedro Pascal was cast in the film as Jack Daniels, and on the same day, a promotional poster was released featuring Firth's character's glasses, confirming Firth's return for the film; Firth's return was later officially confirmed on 11 July 2016. Channing Tatum confirmed his casting through his Twitter account, while Variety reported that Elton John was in talks for a role. (John would later be portrayed by co-star Egerton in 2019 movie Rocketman.) In late April, Vaughn talked about writing the sequel, and stated "writing this was the hardest thing I've ever done." Jeff Bridges was added to the cast on 28 May 2016. Vinnie Jones announced on Twitter that he had been cast, though he did not appear in the finished film.

Filming

Principal photography on the film began on 15 May 2016 in Birmingham. Filming also took place in Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden. The cable car and antidote factory scenes were shot on Skyway Monte Bianco and Pointe Helbronner, located in Courmayeur, Aosta Valley, in northern Italy. On 13 September 2016, Kingsman: The Golden Circle completed initial filming. Additional footage was filmed on location in London in December 2016.

Music

Henry Jackman and Matthew Margeson reunited to compose the music for the film. The soundtrack was released on iTunes on 22 September 2017 by Fox Music and was released on CD in October 2017 by La-La Land Records.