Matthew Vaughn | |
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Born | Matthew Allard Robert Vaughn 7 March 1971 Paddington, London, England |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1996–present |
Spouse | |
Children | 3 |
Matthew Allard de Vere Drummond (born Matthew Allard Robert Vaughn; 7 March 1971), known professionally as Matthew Vaughn, is an English filmmaker. [1] 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 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. [2] [3] 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. [4] A paternity investigation [3] in 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, [4] [5] 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, [4] having changed it by deed poll in May 2002. [6]
Vaughn 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 a few weeks.
Aged 25, Vaughn produced a low-budget thriller, The Innocent Sleep (1996), starring Annabella Sciorra and Michael Gambon. [7] 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 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, [8] but he was critical of Brett Ratner's direction of the film. [9] 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 the first film in the prequel trilogy of the X-Men film universe titled, X-Men: First Class (2011). [10] 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 the script. [11]
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). [12] The film was scripted by Vaughn and Jane Goldman, and produced by Vaughn's production company Marv Films. [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] Vaughn returned to direct, produce, and co-write 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, the film was released on 22 December 2021.
In March 2017, Collider reported that Vaughn was top choice to direct Man of Steel 2 ; [19] in September of that year, Vaughn confirmed that he was in negotiations with the studio to helm the project. [20] By March 2019, Vaughn stated that discussions with Warner Bros. had ended, and he was no longer involved with development of the film. [21]
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. [22] The film premiered in January 2024, and was released by Universal Pictures and Apple Original Films. [23]
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. [24] also announcing two further films in the Hit-Girl & Kick-Ass franchise to be in development, to be produced by him as a trilogy, under the working titles Vram and Kick-Ass. [24]
On 25 May 2002, Vaughn married German supermodel Claudia Schiffer in Suffolk. [25] The couple have a son and two daughters, the youngest born in 2010. [26] [27] They have homes in Notting Hill, London, Northamptonshire and Coldham Hall, Stanningfield, Suffolk. [28]
Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer |
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2004 | Layer Cake | Yes | Yes | No |
2007 | Stardust | Yes | Yes | Yes |
2010 | Kick-Ass | Yes | Yes | Yes |
The Debt | No | Yes | Yes | |
2011 | X-Men: First Class | Yes | No | Yes |
2014 | X-Men: Days of Future Past | No | Yes | Story |
Kingsman: The Secret Service | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
2017 | Kingsman: The Golden Circle | Yes | Yes | Yes |
2021 | The King's Man | Yes | Yes | Yes |
2024 | Argylle | Yes | Yes | No |
Producer only
Executive producer
Producer
Work Crew | |||||||||
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Adam Bohling | |||||||||
Ben Davis | |||||||||
Jane Goldman | |||||||||
Eddie Hamilton | |||||||||
Jon Harris | |||||||||
Henry Jackman | |||||||||
Matthew Margeson | |||||||||
George Richmond | |||||||||
Lee Smith | |||||||||
Take That |
Mark Millar is a Scottish comic book writer who first came to prominence with a run on the superhero series The Authority, published by DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint. Millar has written extensively for Marvel Comics, including runs on The Ultimates, which has been called "the comic book of the decade" by Time magazine and described as a major inspiration for the 2012 film The Avengers by its co-story creator Zak Penn, X-Men, Fantastic Four and Avengers for Marvel's Ultimate imprint, as well as Marvel Knights Spider-Man and Wolverine. In 2006, Millar wrote the Civil War mini-series that served as the centrepiece for the eponymous company-wide crossover storyline and later inspired the Marvel Studios film Captain America: Civil War. The "Old Man Logan" storyline, published as part of Millar's run on Wolverine, served as the inspiration for the 2017 film Logan.
Jane Loretta Anne Goldman is a British screenwriter and producer. She is mostly known for collaborating with director Matthew Vaughn on the screenplays of Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) and its sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017), as well as X-Men: First Class (2011), Kick-Ass (2010) and Stardust (2007). Goldman also worked on the story of X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), the sequel to First Class, again in partnership with Vaughn. Both met high critical praise for their work.
Millarworld Limited is an imprint of comic books published by Scottish comic book writer Mark Millar as a creator-owned line, featuring characters created by him in a shared fictional universe, the Millarworld. These characters include Wesley Gibson, Kick-Ass, Hit-Girl, Eggsy Unwin, Nemesis, Duke McQueen, Edison Crane, and others, while the events of The Unfunnies, Jupiter's Legacy, and Supercrooks exist as popular fiction within the world of the Millarworld. The imprint was launched in 2003 with the publication of the miniseries Wanted, followed by Kick-Ass – The Dave Lizewski Years, Kingsman, War Heroes, and The Magic Order, and later the crossover series Big Game. While the majority of series in the line are written by Millar himself, the series Kingsman, Kick-Ass – The New Girl and Hit-Girl feature new writers from their second volumes onward, after Millar wrote the series' first volumes.
Kick-Ass is a 2010 superhero black comedy film directed by Matthew Vaughn from a screenplay by Jane Goldman and Vaughn. It is based on the Marvel Comics's comic book of the same name by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr, and is the first film in the Kick-Ass franchise.
Hit-Girl is an antihero appearing in the Millarworld shared fictional universe, published by Marvel Comics under the company's imprint Icon Comics and later Image Comics, one of the titular characters of the Hit-Girl & Kick-Ass franchise. The character was created by artist John Romita Jr. and writer Mark Millar. She is a young and effective vigilante, trained by her father Damon McCready from an early age to be a costumed superhero and assassin, introduced in Kick-Ass – The Dave Lizewski Years as a supporting character and ultimate co-protagonist, along with Dave Lizewski. She featured in her own self-titled comic book series, Hit-Girl, published from 2018 to 2020 by Image Comics. She returned in the 2023 miniseries Big Game, becoming a Kingsman agent and killing Wesley Gibson.
Millar & McNiven's Nemesis is a creator-owned comic book limited series written by Mark Millar, drawn by Steve McNiven and published by the Icon Comics imprint of Marvel Comics.
Damien Gareth Walters is a British freerunner and former gymnast from Derbyshire who specializes in tumbling and trampoline. In January 2024, he was announced as the director of an already-filmed comedy action film Stuntnuts Does School Fight which would later feature the same stunt crew in an upcoming Hit-Girl & Kick-Ass reboot.
Marv Studios, formerly SKA Films, is a British production company owned by Matthew Vaughn. It is best known for the motion pictures Layer Cake, Stardust, Kick-Ass, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Kingsman: The Golden Circle and The King's Man. The company name is an acronym deriving from Vaughn’s birth name: Matthew Allard Robert Vaughn.
Kick-Ass 2 is a 2013 black comedy superhero film written and directed by Jeff Wadlow, based on the Marvel Comics graphic novels Book Two and Book Three of Kick-Ass – The Dave Lizewski Years by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr., and serving as a sequel to 2010's Kick-Ass. It is the second film in the Kick-Ass franchise, and stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloë Grace Moretz, and Jim Carrey, with the former trio reprising their roles from the first film. The film follows Dave Lizewski / Kick-Ass (Taylor-Johnson), who joins a vigilante team called "Justice Forever", while Mindy Macready / Hit Girl (Moretz) attempts to live a normal life, and Chris D'Amico (Mintz-Plasse) taking up the mantle of The Motherfucker and forming a supervillain team to take revenge on Kick-Ass.
Kingsman: The Secret Service is a 2014 spy action comedy film directed by Matthew Vaughn. It is the first instalment in the Kingsman film series and is also based on the comic book series of the same name, written by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, published by Millarworld and based on a concept by Millar and Vaughn.
Kingsman is a British multimedia franchise consisting of spy comic books, films, and video games that follow the missions of Agent Galahad of Kingsman, a fictional secret service organization. The franchise is based on the comic book series created by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, a 2012 Marvel Comics release set in the Millarworld shared universe which is based on a concept by Millar and Matthew Vaughn. It has garnered success both financially and critically.
Kingsman: The Golden Circle is a 2017 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 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 installment 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 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, into a secret spy organization by his uncle, Jack London, and his subsequent world-saving adventures, 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 the 2023 crossover event Big Game.
The King's Man is a 2021 spy action film directed by Matthew Vaughn from his story and a screenplay he wrote with Karl Gajdusek. The third installment in the British Kingsman film series, which is based on the comic book The Secret Service by Mark Millar 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 includes Ralph Fiennes, 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 and the birth of the Kingsman organisation.
Kick-Ass is a media franchise based on the adventures of superheroes of the same name, created by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. Set in the Millarworld, it began in 2008 with Marvel's Kick-Ass – The Dave Lizewski Years, followed by the anthology Millarworld Annual from 2016 to 2017, two stand-alone sequel series, Kick-Ass – The New Girl and Hit-Girl, from 2018 to 2020, and two crossover series, Kick-Ass vs. Hit-Girl and Big Game, in 2020 and 2023. In the series, Hit-Girl is a young vigilante going around the world stopping crime in violent ways, while Kick-Ass has had three people take the mantle, a hero, a sidekick, and a villain.
Argylle is a 2024 spy action comedy film directed and produced by Matthew Vaughn, and written by Jason Fuchs. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O'Hara, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, John Cena, and Samuel L. Jackson. Its plot centers on a reclusive author who is drawn into the world of spies and espionage after she realizes that a new spy novel she is writing mirrors real-world events.
Stuntnuts Does School Fight is an upcoming comedy film written and directed by Damien Walters and produced by Matthew Vaughn. It serves as a standalone sequel to Stuntnuts: The Movie as the second film in a new trilogy, and fourth movie installment overall in the Kick-Ass film series. Vaughn described the project as tonally "The Inbetweeners with stunt-men". It stars Greg Townley, Paul Lowe and Bobby Holland Hanton.
Stuntnuts: The Movie is an upcoming action film directed by Damien Walters. Serving as the first of a new trilogy in, and the third film installment overall in the Kick-Ass franchise by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr..