By “Kick Ass” and “Kingsman” director Matthew Vaughn has seen his fair share of bad reviews over the years.
Whilst some of his work either as a director or producer has seen plenty of praise such as “X-Men: First Class,” “Layer Cake,” “Rocketman” and “Stardust,” he’s also been involved in some duds. Even so, he was not prepared for the bad reception his spy thriller comedy “Argylle” received earlier this year.
The Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell and Dua Lipa-led film landed easily the worst reviews of Vaughn’s directing career to date with the film sitting at just 33% (4.9/10) on Rotten Tomatoes.
The box office followed suit with the $200 million budgeted film racking up just $96 million worldwide in its theatrical run. Speaking to Empire recently, Vaughn was asked about the film’s poor reception and said this time they impacted him:
“We had done test screenings that had gone fantastically well. The premiere was a really fun night, and it was like going back to the ‘Snatch’ days where there was such excitement.
I started drinking the Kool-Aid. It’s a fun, feel-good movie, or I thought it was a fun, feel-good movie. We didn’t make ‘Citizen Kane,’ but f—– hell, then the reviews came out and I’m like, ‘Wait, what have I done to offend these people?’
They were vitriolic. I’m not saying the movie’s perfect by any means, but I didn’t think it was offensive. That took me by surprise. It did rattle me. I’m genuinely scratching my head about that, because you can’t ignore it. It wasn’t like [just] a few bad reviews. It is what it is. You learn from these things.”
Vaughn had longed teased this as the first of a potential new spy franchise, one that could crossover with the “Kingsman” films – but in the wake of the film’s failure, it’s likely those plans have been scuttled.
To see “Argylle” for yourself, it is now streaming on Apple TV+.
The post Vaughn Shaken By “Argylle” Bad Reviews appeared first on Dark Horizons.
