Apple launches new spy franchise with Henry Cavill and Matthew Vaughn

Kick-Ass and Kingsman director Matthew Vaughn has a new spy thriller on the way from Apple, but luckily we’ll still get to see it on the big screen. The film stars Henry Cavill and a slew of other ridiculously talented actors, but hardly any other details are available at this point — because spycraft is meant to be secret, people.

Per Variety, the film is called Argylle and is based on the debut novel of same name by Ellie Conway. Cavill will be joined by Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, John Cena, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, and Samuel L. Jackson.

The synopsis is ridiculously vague, claiming that Cavill will play a superspy who jets around the world to various exotic locations. That’s it. And still, Vaughn and Apple are planning at least three of these movies.

In the filmmakers’ defense, it sounds like the novel approaches the spy game in a unique way that they’re not ready to reveal just yet. Vaughn explained:

“When I read this early draft manuscript I felt it was the most incredible and original spy franchise since Ian Fleming’s books of the ’50s. This is going to reinvent the spy genre.”

We’ll just have to take him at his word, since right now it sounds exactly like Ian Fleming’s books from the ’50s. And if nobody is going to cast Cavill as Bond, then he’ll just have to make his own franchise where he’s wearing Tom Ford suits and staring down gun barrels.

It’s sort of hilarious imagining Cavill as a real-world spy, given that he’s made out of marble and would naturally be the most distracting person in the room. But Vaughn has always excelled in elevated realities, so we assume this endeavor will be less The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and more Tom and Jerry: Spy Quest, which is a real movie that we’ve seen.

The good news here is that Vaughn’s vision won’t be contained to our TVs, as Apple is partnering with Universal Pictures for theatrical distribution. The company has been doing a lot of that recently, pairing with Paramount for Martin Scorsese’s upcoming Killers of the Flower Moon and Sony for Ridley Scott’s Napoleon, which is anticipated by everyone except Stanley Kubrick’s ghost. Both of those films are due this fall.

Argylle, however, is looking to be a sleeper hit and will premiere Feb. 2, 2024.