Kingsman: The Secret Service is a 2014 spy action comedy film directed by Matthew Vaughn from a screenplay by Vaughn and Jane Goldman. Based on The Secret Service comic series, it is the first instalment in the Kingsman franchise and stars Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Strong, Taron Egerton and Michael Caine. In the film, Gary "Eggsy" Unwin (Egerton) is recruited by Harry Hart (Firth) into Kingsman, a secret spy organisation, while they pursue the eco-terrorist Richmond Valentine (Jackson).
Development on Kingsman: The Secret Service began by October 2012, with Vaughn opting out of directing X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) to work on the film. Firth joined the project in April 2013, and Jackson was cast soon after. Principal photography began in October 2013, with filming locations including Surrey and London. Henry Jackman and Matthew Margeson composed the film's score and soundtrack.
Kingsman: The Secret Service premiered at Butt-Numb-A-Thon in Austin, Texas on 13 December 2014 and was theatrically released first in the United Kingdom on 29 January 2015, and in the United States on February 13, by 20th Century Fox. It received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $414 million worldwide. A sequel, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, was released in 2017, and a prequel, The King's Man, was released in 2021.
Plot In 1997, probationary secret agent Lee Unwin sacrifices himself during a mission in the Middle East to save his superior, Harry Hart. Feeling responsible for Lee's death, Harry gives Lee's young son, Gary "Eggsy" Unwin, a medal engraved with an emergency assistance number. Seventeen years later, Eggsy is arrested for stealing a car belonging to a friend of Eggsy's abusive stepfather, Dean. After Eggsy calls the number, Harry arranges Eggsy's release and violently confronts Dean and his gang. Harry later reveals to Eggsy that he is a member of Kingsman, a secret independent intelligence agency, as "Galahad", and nominates Eggsy to join the agency to replace "Lancelot", an agent recently killed by the assassin Gazelle while trying to rescue climate change professor James Arnold from kidnappers.
While Eggsy undergoes Kingsman training under the supervision of Kingsman technical support operative "Merlin", Harry interrogates James at Imperial College London after he is mysteriously returned unharmed by his kidnappers. When Harry attempts to question him, a microchip implanted in Arnold's neck explodes, killing him and putting Harry in a coma. The chip's signal is traced to billionaire philanthropist Richmond Valentine, who has recently distributed free SIM cards worldwide. Harry, after recovering from his coma, poses as a philanthropist to meet Valentine; Kingsman discover Valentine's close associates each have the same microchip implantation scar on their necks.
Eggsy forms a friendship with fellow recruit Roxy and survives a series of demanding tests. Eventually, only Eggsy and Roxy remain among the candidates. However, Eggsy fails the final test because he refuses to shoot the puppy he was previously tasked to raise; Roxy becomes the new "Lancelot", and it is revealed that the gun's bullets were blanks. Meanwhile, Harry discovers Valentine's connection to a religious hate group and travels to their church in Kentucky. Valentine activates a signal within the SIM-cards, which cause everyone in the church to become uncontrollably violent. Harry is forced to fight his way through the congregation and is the sole survivor, but Valentine later shoots him.
Back at Kingsman headquarters, Eggsy discovers that the agency's leader, Chester "Arthur" King, has a microchip implantation scar: Arthur reveals that the SIM-card signal will be launched to trigger global violence to drastically reduce the human population in order to combat climate change. Wealthy supporters and selected world leaders have been implanted with protective chips, and dissenters, including Crown Princess Tilde of Sweden, being imprisoned in Valentine's bunker. Eggsy leads Arthur to poison himself, and joins Merlin and Roxy to stop Valentine. Roxy destroys one of Valentine's satellites, and Eggsy poses as Arthur to infiltrate Valentine's bunker. He is soon discovered by failed Kingsman recruit Charlie Hesketh; Valentine secures a satellite replacement and launches the signal.
As global chaos erupts, Eggsy kills Gazelle while Merlin activates a failsafe in the implanted chips, causing the heads of Valentine's allies to explode; Eggsy then kills Valentine with one of Gazelle's prosthetic blades, ending the signal. In a mid-credits scene, Eggsy, the new "Galahad", offers his mother and younger half-sister a new home while he confronts Dean and his gang.
Cast
Hanna Alström appears as Tilde, Crown Princess of Sweden, and Bjørn Floberg appears as Morten Lindström, the Swedish Prime Minister. Lily Travers portrays Lady Sophie. Jonno Davies plays Lee Unwin, Eggsy's late father and a former Kingsman candidate who sacrificed himself to save Hart. Nicholas Banks, Nicholas Agnew, Rowan Polonski and Tom Prior portray Digby Barker, Nathaniel, Piers and Hugo Higins, respectively, the other four Kingsman candidates. Fiona Hampton plays Amelia, a Kingsman employee who masquerades as a candidate in order to "die" during the first test. Richard Brake plays the interrogator during the penultimate test.
Production Development Development on Kingsman: The Secret Service initially began in January 2012, when Mark Millar and Matthew Vaughn discussed the overly serious nature of modern spy films, and their desire to do "a fun [film]." Vaughn opted out of directing X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) to focus on Kingsman: The Secret Service, which he later called "a really tough decision". He reasoned that if he did not do it, "somebody else ... [would] wake up and do a fun spy movie. Then I would have written a bloody screenplay that no one would want to make."
In writing Kingsman: The Secret Service, Vaughn watched several James Bond films, and assessed that each film contained sexual innuendos that "always come from the men". This inspired him to write a scene in Kingsman: The Secret Service where Princess Tilde, a female character, explicitly requests for anal sex. The scene was criticized upon release, with some publications accusing Vaughn of misogyny. During filming, an alternate version of the film was cut, which removed the scene and other references to it.
Casting Colin Firth joined the cast on 29 April 2013. It was initially reported that Leonardo DiCaprio was in talks to play the film's villain, which was denied by Vaughn. Samuel L. Jackson was later hired to portray the film's villain, who took the role in-part because of a career-long aspiration to appear in a James Bond film. Reasoning that an appearance in a Bond film was unlikely, he took on the role as "an opportunity to play a really great Bond villain." Jackson's character has a notable lisp, which was partially inspired by the stutter he had during his childhood. In September 2013, Vaughn cast Sophie Cookson for the female lead, preferring a then less-established actor, and reportedly selected her over Emma Watson and Bella Heathcote. Mark Hamill was cast as Professor James Arnold, who is the primary antagonist in the comic book series; his character was changed in the film.
Filming Principal photography began on 6 October 2013 in Deepcut, Surrey, on a budget reported to be one-third of the $200 million budget of Skyfall. The Alexandra Road Estate in Camden depicted Eggsy's home, and some scenes were filmed at Imperial College London. The Black Prince Pub in Kennington was used for various fight scenes and the car chase. Savile Row in Mayfair, including the exterior of Huntsman, was used to depict the organisation's headquarters. Huntsman and James Lock & Co., where some filming also took place, provided clothing and hats for the film. To depict the villains' heads exploding "in a Busby Berkeley firework display", Vaughn visited three different effects studios to achieve a "surreal" and "enjoyable" sequence; he eventually commissioned the third effects house to produce the sequence.
Music
In May 2014, Henry Jackman and Matthew Margeson were confirmed to compose the film's score and soundtrack, and in July, it was announced that Gary Barlow would contribute original music alongside submitting "Get Ready for It" by Take That, which played during the end credits. For the church fight scene, Vaughn originally intended to use "November Rain" but found the song "darker than [he] realised" and its guitar solo too short. After an online search for "great long American guitar solos", the scene was shot with "Free Bird" instead; Giles Martin, George Martin's son and Vaughn's friend, remixed the song from the original stems for the film.
Release Kingsman: The Secret Services UK premiere was held in London on 14 January 2015, and featured Vaughn, Firth, Egerton and Strong; the premiere included a live performance of "Get Ready for It" by Take That. A regional premiere was held in Glasgow and ran concurrently to the London event, with live footage streamed from the London premiere during the Glasgow premiere. Comic book writer Mark Millar hosted a charity screening of the film ahead of its release in Glasgow to raise money for his old school, St. Bartholomews.
Kingsman: The Secret Service opened in the United Kingdom on 29 January 2015. In the United States, it was set to release on 14 November 2014, but was delayed to 6 March 2015. It was later moved up to 24 October 2014, before settling on its 13 February 2015 release date. The film was released in most of Latin America and Indonesia with the church scene (considered narratively important by Vaughn and film critics) being excised almost completely, leaving only the set-up and immediate consequences.
Marketing The trade paperback collecting the comics miniseries was released on 14 January 2015. Vaughn collaborated with luxury retailer Mr Porter to create a 60-piece clothing line based on Kingsman: The Secret Service. Mr Porter worked with the film's costume designer, Arianne Phillips, to design the bespoke suiting, while other accessories, shirts and shoes designed by heritage brands such as Cutler and Gross, George Cleverley and Mackintosh. The collaboration made Kingsman: The Secret Service one of the only films which collated and released non-merchandise replica outfits for fans to purchase. The film also includes significant product placement for Adidas Originals.
Kingsman: The Secret Service was set to include a teaser trailer featuring all six actors who portrayed James Bond—Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig—sitting in a room and discussing the need for a new generation of secret agents; the trailer would conclude with Harry and Eggsy entering the room. Despite all the actors agreeing to appear, plans for the trailer were shelved due to Connery's dementia.
Home media Kingsman: The Secret Service was released on digital HD in the United Kingdom on 15 May 2015, and on Blu-ray and DVD on 9 June. It was released on 4K UHD Blu-ray on 1 March 2016.
Reception
Box office Kingsman: The Secret Service grossed $414.4million worldwide; it grossed $24.2million in the United Kingdom and $128.3million in North America.