Henry Cavill, Samuel L. Jackson, and more join Matthew Vaughn’s new star-studded spy thriller

Matthew Vaughn’s next big-budget franchise has been announced, and the cast is seriously star-studded.

Henry Cavill (The Witcher), Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards), Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World), Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Catherine O’Hara (Schitt's Creek), John Cena (The Suicide Squad), and Samuel L. Jackson (Avengers and a whole lot else) are set to star the project, titled Argylle.

Marv Studios, founded by Vaughn, made the announcement, and revealed that Dua Lip – the popstar behind "New Rules" and "Physical" – will be making her acting debut in the movie, as well as performing the title track and score. Filming begins in August later this year.

Argylle is based on the spy novel of the same name by author Ellie Conway. Though the book has not been released yet, the story follows the "world's greatest spy" as he's caught up in a globe trotting adventure. The franchise – which does not sound exactly the world away from Vaughn's other franchise, Kingsman – is set to include at least three movies. The book is being released in 2022.

Jason Fuchs (Wonder Woman, Ice Age: Continental Drift) has written the script, with Vaughn serving as director. "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," the filmmaker said in a statement. "This is going to reinvent the spy genre.”

Zygi Kamasa, CEO of Marv Studios, said: "We are delighted that we will be starting our fourth, and by far the biggest, feature film production since the start of the global pandemic. It demonstrates both our desire to scale up our production activity and our ambition to continue to launch new franchises beyond the Kingsman series of films."

The studio currently has three movies in development: Tetris, the biopic about the video-game's founder starring Taron Egerton; Silent Night, a comedy directed by first-time feature-filmmaker Camille Griffin and starring Keira Knightley and Lily-Rose Depp; and action comedy School Fight, from stunt director Damien Walters.

There's also the long-delayed The King's Man, a prequel to the Kingsman movies, starring Ralph Fiennes, which is being released this December. For more, check out our breakdown of all the most exciting upcoming movies heading your way soon.