As a British filmmaker that’s spent the better part of a decade indulging in cinematic espionage, you’d expect Matthew Vaughn’s name to come up whenever the directorial shortlist begins to take shape for the next installment in the James Bond franchise.
After all, he wrote and produced 2010’s unsung spy thriller The Debt, his third Kingsman movie with Taron Egerton kicks off production in September 2022, prequel The King’s Man is just days away from coming to theaters, and the star-studded Argylle is on its way to Apple. On top of that, he’s a lifelong fan of the 007 series.
However, during a press event to promote The King’s Man via ComicBook, the Kick-Ass and Stardust architect admitted that he doesn’t think producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli would go anywhere near him.
“I don’t think the Bond people would touch me with a stick. I don’t think- They don’t like me. I don’t know. You know, to be blunt. love Bond. It’s obviously a huge influence on me….You wait till you see Argylle.”
That does kind of make sense when Vaughn has built his reputation largely on R-rated and irreverent adventures, but nobody could have predicted that critical darling Sam Mendes would end up helming two Bond blockbusters, or that True Detective‘s Cary Joji Fukunaga would become the first American to take the reins on the industry’s foremost saga of secret agency.
Looking at his upcoming slate, though, Vaughn has plenty of spy shenanigans to keep him occupied without having to concern himself with getting a crack at James Bond.
