In the latest issue of Empire magazine, writer-director Matthew Vaugh revealed that the Kingsman 2 title will be Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Vaughn went on to confirm that the film will see Taron Egerton’s Eggsy and Mark Strong’s Merlin heading to the United States, where they’ll find an American verison of their own organization, lead by a “swaggering, sharpshooting cowboy.”
“I didn’t know if I wanted to direct this or not,” Vaughn said of the film. “I was worried about the villain. Spy films are only as good as their villains. Then one morning I woke up with the whole storyline in place, and a new villain plot.”
When asked if he would try to outdo the “church seqeunce” from the first film in the sequel, Vaughn said:
“You try not to read what people want, but they do want another church sequence. I have no reason for another massacre to happen. But I have other sequences you’ve never seen before.”
You can check out the first concept art for Kingsman: The Golden Circle below, including first looks at the US Kingman’s (The Statesman) headquarters and the base of the film’s villain (played by Julianne Moore), Poppyland.
20th Century Fox has set a June 16, 2017 release date for Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Casting updates on the sequel so far have suggested that we will see Halle Berry join the franchise as the head of the CIA, with Julianne Moore in talks to play the film’s central villain. Edward Holcroft is also set to appear in the film, though whether he will reprise as his character from the first remains to be seen.
