Trailer: THE KING'S MAN (2020)

So far each Kingsman trailer has gotten me excited, and then each movie has disappointed me. But now they've done it again! Even after being burnt twice, I'm still on the edge of my seat waiting for director Matthew Vaughn's latest excursion into that world, this time a prequel set in the early 20th century. I'm a real sucker for WWI-era spy stories, and there are altogether too few. So despite my misgivings about the contemporary Kingsman movies, this trailer has me 100% on board for The King's Man!

The King's Man opens on Valentine's Day 2020, having moved into that slot (previously occupied by Bond 25, which then jumped to April) from fall 2019 after the Disney acquisition of Kingsman studio Fox.

Obviously none of the characters from the first two Kingsman movies, set in the present, appear in this one (which will depict the birth of the organization), so there's an all-new cast including Harris Dickinson (Trust) as Conrad, the WWI-era equivalent of Eggsy, Ralph Fiennes (Skyfall), Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace), Rhys Ifans (Snowden), Matthew Goode (Cambridge Spies), Daniel Brühl (Captain America: Civil War), Djimon Hounsou (Alias), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass), Charles Dance (For Your Eyes Only), and Tom Hollander (The Night Manager) in a triple role as Royal cousins King George V of England, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.

Full Trailer for the Batman's Butler Sixties Spy Show PENNYWORTH

Following the brief teaser revealed in March, EPIX has released a full trailer for that Sixties spy show about Batman's butler, Alfred Pennyworth... long before he was Batman's butler. Hey, whatever it takes to get a Sixties-set spy show on the air today! (And clearly what it takes is some sort of popular superhero property branding.) While Pennyworth is not directly connected to any other specific incarnation of the Dark Knight (including Gotham, which hailed from the same creative team), it certainly seems as if the appealing star, Jack Bannon (Endeavor), is doing his best to channel a young Michael Caine. (Caine played Alfred in the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy, and of course embodied the quintessential 1960s London spy, Harry Palmer.) Set in an alternate reality Sixties London, Pennyworth follows young Alfred's adventures as a budding private security contractor fresh out of the SAS working with Thomas Wayne (future father of Bruce) to stop a threat against Her Majesty's Government.

Tradecraft: Latest 24 Reboot Attempt to Focus on Young Jack Bauer

Ever since 24 went off the air following its eighth season in 2010, Fox execs have been looking for ways to bring it back. For years they tried to develop a feature film based on the real-time TV series (which I'd still like to see happen!), then eventually brought it back in 2014 as the summer limited series event, 24: Live Another Day. That 12-episode format proved to be a vast improvement on the previous 24-episode format, and after star Kiefer Sutherland announced that he was done playing Jack Bauer, they tried it again with the Bauer-less reboot/revival/sequel series 24: Legacy. That incarnation didn't quite live up to their ratings expectations, but they immediately started plotting another strategy. There were rumors of abandoning the counter-terrorism theme altogether, and rebooting the show as a legal drama that kept only the real-time format. (Indeed, when the series launched in 2001 and the producers weren't certain where it would go, one idea was to make it a real-time anthology show. To that end, Imagine Entertainment optioned The Da Vinci Code as possible source material for a second season of 24. Obviously, that book blew up and instead Imagine turned it into a big screen feature.) Apparently the legal thriller idea (written by longtime 24 producer Howard Gordon and Jeremy Doner, and said to focus on a female lawyer trying to save a client from death row as the clock ticks down) remains a possibility, but Deadline reports that Fox is simultaneously developing another new incarnation of 24 as well: a Jack Bauer prequel series.

Written by Gordon (Homeland, Legends) and original 24 creators Bob Cochran (La Femme Nikita) and Joel Surnow (The Equalizer), "it is said to be in the vein of the original and will trace the origin story of CTU agent Jack Bauer," the trade reports. The network presumably sees this as a way to revisit the iconic, fan-favorite character without depending on Sutherland's involvement. I'm a little torn on this idea myself. While the possibility of seeing Jack Bauer as a young agent in the waning days of the Cold War is certainly appealing (assuming that's the direction they go, rather than rebooting entirely with a younger Bauer active today. a la NBC's Taken prequel series), I just can't imagine any actor beside Sutherland taking on that role. It will all depend on casting. If they can find the right actor, I suppose it just might work.... And who am I kidding? I'll watch a real-time spy series set in the late Eighties no matter who it stars!

Tradecraft: TAKEN Series Gets New Showrunner for Season 2

Deadline reports that Greg Plageman has been hired to succeed the departing Alex Cary as showrunner on the second season of Taken, the NBC TV series prequel to Luc Besson's neo-Eurospy movies starring Liam Neeson. Plageman specializes in "procedural drama with an ongoing mythology," and most recently served as co-showrunner on CBS' procedural spy show Person of Interest. It is expected that he will take Taken in a more procedural direction (with ongoing mythology) in its 16-episode second season, Taken stars Clive Standen and Jennifer Beals, and follows Bryan Mills (Standen, in the Neeson role) in his formative days as a secret agent, decades prior to the events of the first film (yet set in the present day). Plageman's credits also include writing an episode of the 2000 spy series Secret Agent Man.

Meet the New Bryan Mills in TAKEN TV Trailer

NBC has provided us with our first glimpse at the new, younger Bryan Mills in the forthcoming Taken TV show. The series, which EuropaCorp's Luc Besson has been developing since 2010, will serve as a prequel to the popular neo-Eurospy movies starring Liam Neeson, with Clive Standen (Vikings) stepping into Neeson's very particular skill set. Homeland's Alexander Cary serves as showrunner, and Jennifer Beals co-stars. Taken: The Series premieres on February 27.

Tradecraft: NBC Orders Taken TV Series

It was way back in 2010 that Luc Besson's neo-Eurospy factory EuropaCorp first announced that it was working on a TV series based on its 2008 hit movie Taken, at the same time that the Transporter TV show was announced. Five years and two Taken movies later, that series is actually happening, at NBC. Deadline reports that the network has put in a straight-to-series order for a Taken prequel series, focusing on a younger Bryan Mills (the now-former agent played by Liam Neeson in the movies) in his CIA days. There is no showruner on board yet, but Besson, who co-wrote all of the movies, will executive produce the series (a role he didn't take on either Nikita or Transporter: The Series), which will be a joint venture between EuropaCorp and Universal Television. Set before Bryan Mills ever married Lenore (Famke Janssen in the movies) and before the couple had their kidnapping-prone daughter Kim, the series will show us how Mills acquired his famous "very particular set of skills" and became the badass known to moviegoers the world over. You're probably doing the math about now and getting excited, as I did, for a spy series set in the final days of the Cold War, but alas, that's not to be. Instead, the Taken series will function as a sort of reboot, bending time to take place today, kind of like EuropaCorp's recent prequel The Transporter Refueled (which was actually inexplicably set in 2010, which is neither before the Jason Statham movies were made nor, obviously, the present).

So when you take away Liam Neeson and you take away Mills' family members getting kidnapped, what, exactly, are you left with in the Bryan Mills character? Quite a lot, actually. In 2008 (or early 2009, when it opened in the United States after playing in Europe), I think audiences were genuinely surprised by the lengths to which Mills went in tracking down his missing daughter. His brutality, when called for, was shocking. (Read my review of the movie here.) He is of the school of Donald Hamilton's Matt Helm (a character very different from Dean Martin's movie version) and 24's Jack Bauer (who also had a kidnapping-prone daughter named Kim), an uncompromising agent capable of anything when the stakes are high enough. It's true that we've seen a lot of such characters on television since 24, but based on audience's familiarity with and goodwill towards Mills from the Neeson incarnation, I think the right showrunner could do something very special with the part on the small screen—even on network television. Other than the contemporary setting, this could just turn out to be the closest thing to the Matt Helm TV series spy fans have been craving for decades.

New Transporter Refueled Trailer

EuropaCorp has released a new trailer for their upcoming Statham-less neo-Eurospy reboot The Transporter Refueled. The Luc Besson-produced movie opens September 4 in the U.S.


Here's the official description: Frank Martin (played by newcomer Ed Skrein), a former special-ops mercenary, is now living a less perilous life - or so he thinks - transporting classified packages for questionable people. When Frank’s father (Ray Stevenson) pays him a visit in the south of France, their father-son bonding weekend takes a turn for the worse when Frank is engaged by a cunning femme-fatale, Anna (Loan Chabanol), and her three seductive sidekicks to orchestrate the bank heist of the century. Frank must use his covert expertise and knowledge of fast cars, fast driving and fast women to outrun a sinister Russian kingpin, and worse than that, he is thrust into a dangerous game of chess with a team of gorgeous women out for revenge.

Matthew Vaughn Drops Hints About Kingsman Sequel Possibilities

NOTE: This story contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Kingsman: The Secret Service.

Speaking to Moviefone (via /film), director Matthew Vaughn offered some hints about what audiences can expect in Kingsman 2, should a sequel happen. (And with a $36 million opening weekend in the U.S., I'd say the odds are pretty good.) "I'd love to do another one," he told the website. "This movie really is the origin story of [the Taron Egerton character] Eggsy. And Eggsy is really the real, true modern gentleman spy. It really isn't Harry Hart [Colin Firth's character]. Harry Hart is the old cliché of what you think a gentleman spy is. Eggsy will be taking on a whole new way. But it's up to the audience. If they go see it and want another one, I would absolutely love to do it. We had so much fun making this movie. And you wouldn't believe what we've got in store. Poor Mark Strong will be going on a journey that he never imagined. And we've got this idea to introduce the world to the American branch of the Kingsman." Hm... Part of the appeal of Kingsman (right down to the title) is its pervasive Englishness. I'm not sure it would be a good idea to dilute that with an American branch, but you never know. Still, Mr. Vaughn, you don't need to go doing that on our account. Americans love that exaggerated, bygone Englishness. Look at the success in this country of Downton Abbey, or the original Avengers.

Despite insisting that the franchise now belongs to Eggsy, Vaughn also told USA Today (via Screen Rant) not to rule out the possibility of Colin Firth returning despite his character's untimely demise in the first film. "A lot of people are very upset that Colin might not be in the sequel but I’m coming up with ideas at the moment. If people buy tickets in America, I’ve got a feeling we’ll figure out a way for having Colin back." Even so, he still reiterates that in his eyes, Eggsy is the future of the gentleman spy, jokingly calling Kingsman "the prequel to the Eggsy movie."

He's got a good point about Eggsy being the more original element in Kingsman and Harry being a throwback, but they nailed the throwback character so well that I can't help think I prefer Vaughn's vision of the past to his vision of the future. Firth really managed to epitomize the image of the British gentleman spy, dated though it may be. If you've read my review, you'll know I didn't much care for Kingsman. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't be interested in a follow-up. It would feel like something of a cop out to say that Harry survived that headshot delivered him at close range by Samuel L. Jackson's villain Valentine in this movie, so I'm guessing his potential return would take the form of flashbacks. (It could be a Godfather II situation, transitioning between a past adventure of Harry Hart and a current, related one starring Eggsy.) But how about this? Here's my idea: use Kingsman's success to build two separate franchises. Studios love Marvel-style shared worlds nowadays! Do a series of sequels with Eggsy to be cutting edge and showcase all the hyper-violence, misanthropy and nihilism that Vaughn seems so fond of, and a simultaneous series of prequels for those of us who prefer "the old cliché" starring firth as Harry to satirize and celebrate the great British spy traditions of the past! I did say in my review that I wished I could pluck Firth's character, fully formed, out of Kingsman and send him off in an entirely different series all his own. And I really would like to see that happen. And even if Vaughn (quite understandably) prefers to invent a new kind of spy hero, he's just so good at realizing the old kind!
Thanks to Danny for the heads-up.

Tradecraft: ABC Sets Premiere Date for Agent Carter

ABC's forthcoming period spy drama set in the Marvel Universe, Agent Carter, was commissioned as an 8-episode miniseries designed to bridge the gap between the fall and spring installments of the network's modern-day Marvel spy show, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Today, ABC announced when that will happen. Deadline reports that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will air its mid-season finale on December 9, and then, after the holidays, Agent Carter will premiere in its timeslot on January 6, 2015, and air over consecutive weeks. Then Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns on March 3 for an uninterrupted spring run. Agent Carter stars Hayley Atwell (Restless, The Prisoner), reprising her role from Captain America: The First Avenger and (briefly) Captain America: The Winder Soldier as Peggy Carter, agent of S.S.R. (forerunner to S.H.I.E.L.D. in the Marvel Cinematic Universe). On the show, Agent Carter must contend with threats both earthly and otherworldly in the nascent days of the Cold War, as well as the systemic sexism in postwar America. Atwell should be well suited to the role, having previously played a secret agent in 1940s America in the miniseries Restless, based on an excellent spy novel by James Bond continuation author William Boyd (Solo). It was also announced this year that Atwell will cameo as Agent Carter in the 2015 Marvel feature film Ant-Man. That movie's prologue is said to take place in the 1960s and feature S.H.I.E.L.D. agents of that era, so presumably Peggy will be among them.

Tradecraft: EuropaCorp Prequel The Transporter Legacy Moves to Summer

Deadline reports that we'll have to wait a little bit longer to see the Statham-less prequel The Transporter Legacy. As previously reported, the neo-Eurospy reboot was set to bow in North America on March 6, but EuropaCorp USA has moved it back to June 19. A summer release date generally indicates that the studio has a lot of confidence in the movie, and that's probably more true than ever in the overcrowded marketplace of 2015. Ed Skrein takes over from Jason Statham as professional transporter Frank Martin, and Loan Chabanol is the franchise's latest neo-Eurospy babe. Brick Mansions' Camille Delamarre directs. As far as I know, The Transporter Legacy has no connection to TNT's Transporter TV series, though Delamarre did handle second unit duties on the show.

Tradecraft: Cinemax to Air Original UK Strike Back, Previously Unseen in U.S.

Deadline reports that Cinemax will finally provide American audiences with the opportunity to see the original UK season of the action spy series Strike Back, which aired there on the cable channel B Sky B. Sky's Strike Back (known in Britain as Chris Ryan's Strike Back) starred Richard Armitage (MI-5) and Andrew Lincoln as agents of MI6's elite, ultra-secret paramilitary unit Section 20. Cinemax liked the series and wanted to acquire it, co-producing subsequent seasons and broadcasting them in America. Unfortunately, by that time Armitage had been cast in The Hobbit and Lincoln had moved onto The Walking Dead, so the Cinemax version was recast and rebooted, focusing on two entirely new characters (Philip Winchester and Sullivan Stapleton as Stonebridge and Scott) also recruited to work for Section 20. (Why there was no carryover in the office support staff I don't know.) While the first Stonebridge and Scott season aired as Season 2 of the series in Britain, Americans were introduced to it as a brand new series. On DVD, it was labelled "The First Cinemax Season" and American viewers never had the chance to see the real first season... until now! Starting October 25 in the regular Strike Back timeslot (following the conclusion of the third Cinemax season), the cabler will air the original UK series as Strike Back: Origins, billed as a "prequel." This is great news, because that first season with Armitage is really wonderful television. Seeing it first, in fact, I found it far superior to the Cinemax version (though a direct comparison is somewhat unfair, as the two versions are tonally pretty different). Now American audiences at large can finally be exposed to these six exciting episodes of espionage action. (And finally share the frustration UK viewers felt at Armitage's brief cameo in the first episode of the Cinemax series!) Hopefully this will also lead to a DVD and Blu-ray release for Strike Back: Origins down the road. It would be great if it also led to the current version of the show revisiting some of the characters from that first incarnation and tying up a few loose ends! (Hey, despite what we think we saw, anything can happen... right?)

Read my review of the UK Strike Back here.
Read my review of the US Strike Back here.

And here's Cinemax's trailer for the rebranded Strike Back: Origins:

Tradecraft: Leonardo DiCaprio to Play Nicholai Hel?

Tradecraft: Leonardo DiCaprio to Play Nicholai Hel?

Deadline reports that Nicolai Hel, the hero of the classic spy novel Shibumi, by Trevanian, may at last be getting the big screen treatment. However, it is not in an adaptation of the late Trevanian's genre milestone; instead, Warner Bros. has made a deal to adapt the recent officially authorized continuation novel (a prequel), Satori, by Don Winslow (author of Savages). According to the trade blog, the studio will develop the book "as a star vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio," with the actor's company Appian Way. Winslow will pen the script with screenwriter Shane Salerno (the two previously partnered to on Savages for Oliver Stone), who will also executive produce. Oddly, the Deadline story by Mike Fleming makes no mention of Trevanian or Shibumi. It's as if a deal were made to adapt Carte Blanche and the press acted like Jeffery Deaver had created James Bond! Very strange. Fleming does allow, however, that "the studio sees potential for its own Jason Bourne-type action franchise." Presumably this means eventually getting around to adapting the original novel... Satori takes place in the 1950s and finds Hel rescued from a Tokyo prison by the CIA on the condition that he'll work for them as an assassin. Another spy novel by Trevanian, The Eiger Sanction, did get a movie version during the author's lifetime, starring Clint Eastwood.

Upcoming Spy DVDs: More Info On The Fall of Sam Axe

Fox has officially announced the Burn Notice spin-off TV movie, The Fall of Sam Axe, for release on DVD and Blu-ray on July 26.  If you're experiencing déjà vu, that's because the studio let the cat out of the bag early in a press release last month about series creator Matt Nix signing a new overall deal.  Now they've issued another press release specifically about the Bruce Campbell prequel, which depicts Sam's final mission as a Navy SEAL prior to the events of the TV show.  According to TV Shows On DVD, Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe will be available both on DVD and Blu-ray.  (So far only the second season of the show has been issued in the high-def format.)  Both releases contain an extended cut of the telefilm running 108 minutes and including scenes not seen on the USA television broadcast.  Extras include an audio commentary (participants TBA, but you'd have to assume Bruce Campbell, as he is the King of the Audio Commentary, and hope for director Jeffrey Donovan as well), a featurette called "The Fall of Jeffrey Donovan" (presumably about series star Donovan's move behind the camera), deleted scenes and a gag reel.  July 26?  Hm, that's right after the San Diego Comic Con, where The Fall of Sam Axe was first announced last year.  And if there's anything besides DVD audio commentaries that Bruce Campbell is the king of, it's Comic Con.  (Hail to the King, baby.)  I'd say there's a good bet that this DVD will be heavily promoted at this year's con, and possibly even offered for sale early.  Fox Home Entertainment has a history of offering limited edition DVDs early at Comic Con, including Futurama and Dollhouse.  If I hear anything official along those lines, I'll keep you posted...

Upcoming Spy DVDs: The Fall of Sam Axe

Judging from a Deadline story about Burn Notice creator Matt Nix signing a new (and very lucrative) overall deal with Fox TV Studios, Fox has announced the DVD of last night's Burn Notice spinoff telefilm amidst a press release about the deal.  According to the trade blog, Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe will hit DVD on July 26. As previously reported, Burn Notice: Season 4 comes out June 7.  Since this is just a mention in another press release, there is no word yet on extras or Blu-ray prospects. But I'm hopeful that, since they're releasing this one on its own as opposed to lumping it in with the eventual Season 5 DVDs, that we'll get a healthy assortment of bonus material.  It would make sense given Bruce Cambell's DVD-hungry fanbase.  (I don't think any title has ever had as many different DVD releases as Campbell's Sam Raimi collaborations The Evil Dead or Army of Darkness!)  Personally, I've got my fingers crossed for a commentary with Campbell and director Jeffrey Donovan at the very least.  I loved the telefilm, by the way, and would love to see more of these prequels about either Sam or Michael prior to their Burn Notice adventures.  If you can't wait until late July, The Fall of Sam Axe is currently available to view on Amazon Instant Video and Instant Video HD.

Tradecraft: Jeffrey Donovan To Direct Bruce Campbell In Burn Notice Prequel Movie

Deadline has lots of new details on the Burn Notice spinoff movie focusing on Bruce Campbell's character, Sam Axe, that was first announced last summer at Comic-Con.  Most importantly, the two-hour film (which was announced rather informally during the Burn Notice panel), has an official greenlight.  It begins filming in January, on location in Bogota, Columbia, Burn Notice creator Matt Nix will write the script, and Michael Westen himself, Jeffrey Donovan, will direct.  (Donovan made his directorial debut on this season's "Made Man" episode, which focused on Campbell's character.)  The movie will premiere on USA sometime in the spring, presumably bridging what's likely to be a longer-than-normal gap between seasons, since the second part of Season 4 started earlier than usual, in November instead of January.

The trade blog also reveals that this prequel spinoff is set in late 2005 and focuses on Sam's final mission as a Navy SEAL. "It begins after a faction of Colombian rebels makes trouble for the locally stationed military platoon, with Lieutenant Commander Axe (Campbell) being sent down to investigate. As the mission unfolds, Sam begins to uncover the dark secrets of the area, learning the truth about sacrifice, deception, and ultimately what’s worth fighting for."  I'm kind of surprised that it's just 2005, because I got the idea that Sam was supposed to have been lounging around Miami for more than just a couple of years when Burn Notice began in 2007.  If it's only supposed to be a few years earlier, though, I guess Campbell doesn't have to slim down as much!  He's already been shedding weight for this prequel, though, as proven by Sam's sudden preference for tight T-shirts over baggy Hawaiians in recent episodes of the show. 

Now, I'm a huge Bruce Campbell fan.  When I first heard about Burn Notice, the angle I took in my initial post on the subject was "New Bruce Campbell Spy Series."  Like millions of movie geeks and horror fans, I love him.  But apparently USA executives didn't really realize that until Comic-Con in 2009.  USA's president of original programming Jeff Wachtel told Deadline, "We saw Bruce Campbell as the Bruce Springsteen of Comic Con [at that initial '09 panel]. We saw the spectacular explosive fan reaction and realized that, in Bruce, we had not only a great actor but also a pop culture icon." And that's where the idea came from to do this Bruce-centric spinoff film.  I'm glad they finally caught on!  It's also cool to see the power of fan response at Comic-Con directly affecting programming like that.  Is there a possibility of more Sam movies in the future, or even a whole spinoff series?  "It is a one-off," says Wachtel... for now. "We’ll see how it goes." 

I certainly wouldn't want to see Bruce leave Burn Notice, but a spinoff series after the show ends would be good, as would more movies.  I suppose it would also be cool to see future prequel films about Fiona and Michael, but I'm most into the Sam idea.  It's too bad they're starting off with his last mission, since that would mean that any further prequels would have to take place even further in the past... and Bruce Campbell doesn't age like Benjamin Button. 

For more Bruce Campbell spyishness, check out Jack of All Trades (on which he played a Revolutionary War-era American spy in the Caribbean) and the "Stagecoach" episode of The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (which is one of my favorite TV shows of all time, and what made me a Bruce Campbell fan to begin with).