Discuss whatever you want about movies or any other topic. A new thread is created automatically every Friday at 3:00 PM EST.

Here's a new edition of "Directors at the Box Office", which seeks to explore the directors' trajectory at the box office and analyze their hits and bombs. I already talked about a few, and as I promised, it's Matthew Vaughn's turn.

Vaughn started his career as a producer for some of his friends, one of which was Guy Ritchie. He was the producer of Lock, Stock, Snatch, Swept Away, etc. Thanks to these films, he built more connections with talent, allowing him to finally start directing those films himself.

From a box office perspective, how reliable was he to deliver a box office hit?

That's the point of this post. To analyze his career.

The domestic grosses here will be adjusted by inflation. The table with his highest grossing films, however, will be left in its unadjusted form, as the worldwide grosses are more difficult to adjust.

Layer Cake (2004)

His directorial debut. Based on the 2000 novel by J. J. Connolly, it stars Daniel Craig, Tom Hardy, Michael Gambon, Colm Meaney, and Sienna Miller. The plot revolves around a London-based criminal, credited as "XXXX", who works in the cocaine trade and wishes to leave the drug business.

Guy Ritchie was in place to direct, but other commitments meant he had to drop out. As such, Vaughn stepped in to keep the film afloat. Originally, the first draft was 408 pages long, which is even more pages than the novel it was based on.

The film did not perform well at the box office. But it was a critical success, lauding it as a very solid crime flick. It successfully launched the careers of Vaughn and Craig; the film caused producer Barbara Broccoli to take notice of Craig and think he might be a good fit for James Bond.

• Budget: $6,500,000.

• Domestic gross: $2,339,957. ($3.8 million adjusted)

• Worldwide gross: $11,850,214.

Stardust (2007)

"A star falls. The chase begins."

His second film. Based on the 1999 novel by Neil Gaiman, it stars Claire Danes, Charlie Cox, Sienna Miller, Ricky Gervais, Jason Flemyng, Rupert Everett, Peter O'Toole, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Robert De Niro, with narration by Ian McKellen. The film follows Tristan, a young man from the fictional town of Wall in England. Wall is a town on the border of the magical fantasy kingdom of Stormhold. Tristan enters the magical world to collect a fallen star to give to his beloved Victoria, in return for her hand in marriage. To his surprise, he collects the star, a woman named Yvaine. Witches and the Princes of Stormhold are also hunting for Yvaine.

In 1998, the novel was optioned for a film adaptation by Bob Weinstein at Miramax. Gaiman wrote a treatment, and then Ehren Kruger wrote a treatment. Gaiman described the process as "an unsatisfactory development period", and he recovered the rights after they expired. For years, Gaiman refused offers to develop the film. Having seen the disappointing results of the hands-off approach taken by Alan Moore, Gaiman preferred to retain control and influence the development of the film.

Eventually, discussions about a film version took place between Gaiman, director Terry Gilliam, and producer Matthew Vaughn. Gilliam dropped out following his involvement with The Brothers Grimm and not wanting to do another fairy tale. Vaughn left to produce Layer Cake but then became the director for the first time for that project. Shortly afterwards, he was hired by 20th Century Fox to direct X-Men: The Last Stand, but he left when it was clear he would not get to do the film he wanted on a tight deadline. After Vaughn withdrew from X-Men, talks resumed, and in January 2005, Vaughn acquired the option to develop Stardust.

When asked how the book inspired his vision for the film, Vaughn said that he wanted "to do Princess Bride with a Midnight Run overtone." One of the difficulties with adapting the novel was its earnest and dark nature: an adult fairy tale in which sex and violence are presented unflinchingly. With Gaiman's blessing given to the screenwriters, the film version has a greater element of whimsy and humor. Gaiman did not want people to go to the theater to see a film that attempted but failed, to be completely loyal to the book.

Gaiman realized that the plot would have to be condensed, with some plot points dropped. Budgetary concerns also factored into the adaptation, even with the level of 2006 technology. Gaiman understood the need to move the plot along faster: "In the book, Tristan crosses the wall, meets a strange creature, goes through the wood of vampire trees and, as his reward, gets the Babylon candle. Now we skip that. He gets the candle and just lights it and gets to Yvaine earlier. Otherwise, that would take an hour." Also, the newly created character of Ferdy the Fence was used to push people together faster. Vaughn acknowledges the changes from the book were substantial. The character of Captain Shakespeare was expanded extensively from the novel, where Captain Alberic is only briefly mentioned, and the last half hour of the film is almost entirely different from the book.

Vaughn picked Claire Danes, Charlie Cox, and Michelle Pfeiffer for their roles. He specifically wanted an unknown star to play Tristan, and had to make sure Cox had on-screen chemistry with Danes before finally announcing both actors. He intended Captain Shakespeare to be played by either Robert De Niro or Jack Nicholson. Stephen Fry was pitched as a possible Shakespeare, but Vaughn eventually picked De Niro. The role of Quintus was originally given to Noel Fielding, but due to health issues he had to drop out and was replaced by another comedian, Adam Buxton.

The film disappointed domestically, earning just $38 million. While it fared better overseas, it still made just $137 million worldwide, failing to recoup its $70 million budget. Vaughn was critical of the marketing of the film, saying it had been promoted as if it were Lord of the Rings when it had been much more influenced by The Princess Bride. He noted that although the film did not do well in theaters, it became an "evergreen title" on DVD. But it earned highly positive reviews, with the film earning a cult following thanks to home media. It's seen as one of Gaiman's best adaptations.

• Budget: $70,000,000.

• Domestic gross: $38,634,938. ($60.1 million adjusted)

• Worldwide gross: $137,515,140.

Kick-Ass (2010)

"Shut Up. Kick-Ass."

His third film. Based on the Marvel Comics comic book of the same name by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr., it stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloë Grace Moretz, Mark Strong, and Nicolas Cage. It tells the story of an ordinary teenager, Dave Lizewski, who sets out to become a real-life superhero, calling himself "Kick-Ass". Dave gets caught up in a bigger fight when he meets Big Daddy, a former cop who, in his quest to bring down the crime boss Frank D'Amico and his son Red Mist, has trained his eleven-year-old daughter to be the ruthless vigilante Hit-Girl.

The rights to a film version of the first volume of the comic book series were sold before the first issue was published. Developed in parallel, the film writers took a different story direction, to reach many of the same conclusions. Millar initially considered having American Jesus adapted and communicated to Matthew Vaughn about that concept, but Vaughn switched to Kick Ass after Millar mentioned it and sent some materials to Vaughn.

In the original comic-book, Big Daddy is characterised not as an ex-cop, but as a former accountant who had been motivated to fight crime by a desire to escape from his life and by his love of comic books. In the film, his purported origin and motivations are genuine: Millar stated that the revelation about Big Daddy's background would not have worked in the film adaptation and "would have ruined the movie." The climax also differs significantly from the comics, with the use of the jetpack and rocket launcher: Millar called this "necessary" as "we're building up so much stuff that we needed some Luke Skywalker blowing up the Death Star moment".

Vaughn initially went to Sony, which distributed Layer Cake, but he rejected calls to tone down the violence. Other studios expressed interest but wanted to make the characters older. In particular, studios wanted to change Hit-Girl's character into an adult. Goldman said that while studio executives said that it would be less offensive to portray Hit-Girl as a teenager, Goldman argued that it would have been more offensive since, as a teenager, Hit-Girl would have been sexualized. Goldman said that Hit-Girl was not supposed to be sexualized.

The film started production, despite the fact that there wasn't a distributor attached. The big studios doubted the success of an adaptation as a violent superhero, which made the film be independently financed, but this gave him the freedom to make the film the way he imagined, without having to worry about high censorship. Vaughn believed enough in the project to raise the money himself. Almost one year after filming started, Lionsgate finally bought the film domestically, while Universal would handle overseas territories.

The film earned $48 million domestically and $96 million worldwide, becoming a box office hit. It also earned high praise from critics, who hailed its audacity, becoming influential in the R-rated superhero genre. Obviously, some were still upset with the film, particularly having 12-year-old Moretz playing a ruthless and foul-mouthed superhero. But it helped elevate Vaughn's status, and helped launch the careers of Taylor-Johnson and Moretz.

A sequel would be released in 2013, but Vaughn served just as producer.

• Budget: $28,000,000.

• Domestic gross: $48,071,303. ($71.2 million adjusted)

• Worldwide gross: $97,531,134.

X-Men: First Class (2011)

"Witness the moment that will change our world."

His fourth film. The fourth mainline installment in the X-Men film series and the fifth installment overall, it stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, January Jones, Oliver Platt, Álex Gonzalez, Jason Flemying, Zoë Kravitz, Caleb Landry Jones, Edi Gathegi, Lucas Till, and Kevin Bacon. The film is set primarily in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and focuses on the relationship between Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto, and the origin of their groups (the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants), as they deal with the Hellfire Club led by Sebastian Shaw, a mutant supremacist bent on starting a nuclear war.

Shortly after X-Men: The Last Stand, Lauren Shuler Donner suggested the idea of a prequel exploring the origin of mutants. Fox hired Sheldon Turner to write a prequel focusing on Magneto's origins, described as "The Pianist meets X-Men". The script he penned was set from 1939 to 1955, following Magneto trying to survive in Auschwitz. He meets Xavier, a young soldier, during the liberation of the camp. He hunts down the Nazi war criminals who tortured him, and this lust for vengeance turns him and Xavier into enemies. David S. Goyer was hired as director, and Ian McKellen was set to return in a capacity role, but the WGA strike halted production.

Simon Kinberg found the X-Men: First Class comic series, and decided that this could better as a point of reference. Fox wanted Bryan Singer to direct this, but he was not convinced. Nevertheless, he wrote a treatment; he set the film in a period where Xavier and Magneto were in their twenties, and seeing that it was during the 1960s, added the Cuban Missile Crisis as a backdrop, considering it would be interesting to "discuss this contemporary concept in a historical context". Shuler Donner suggested the Hellfire Club as the villains.

Now let's move back to 2005. Bryan Singer decided to not do X-Men: The Last Stand to focus on Superman Returns, and Fox was not gonna wait for him, as they already set the film for May 2006. They offered the director's chair to Darren Aronofsky, Joss Whedon, Rob Bowman, Alex Proyas, Zack Snyder, Peter Berg, and Guillermo del Toro, and they all turned it down. So in March, they hired Vaughn to direct the film. In this period, Vaughn was responsible for casting Kelsey Grammer as Beast, Dania Ramirez as Callisto, and Vinnie Jones as Juggernaut. However, it was soon clear that Fox was not gonna give him the time he needed to refine the script, so he left the film. A few years later, he said he left the project after a group of executives had tried to sign Halle Berry on with a fake script, which included scenes of Storm rescuing kids from Africa.

After seeing Kick-Ass, Kinberg decided to contact Vaughn to see if he would be interested in First Class. When Fox offered Vaughn the "chance to reboot X-Men and put your stamp all over it", he first thought the studio was joking, but accepted after discovering that it was to be set in the 1960s. He stated that First Class would become the opportunity to combine many of his dream projects: "I got my cake and ate it, managed to do an X-Men movie, and a Bond thing, and a Frankenheimer political thriller at the same time."

Vaughn rewrote the script with Jane Goldman, adding new characters and changing existing character arcs and dynamics — for instance, the idea of a love triangle between Xavier, Magneto and Moira MacTaggert was cut. The character of Sunspot was also cut, as he felt that "we didn't have enough time or money" to make the character work. Vaughn and Goldman considered including mentions to the civil rights movement, but ultimately he felt that "I had enough political subplot in this movie." Vaughn stated that his biggest concern was to both make Erik and Charles' friendship believable given the short timespan of the film, and on how the character of Magneto was built, "Shaw was the villain, but now you're seeing all those elements of Shaw going into Magneto."

The film debuted with $55 million domestically, easily Vaughn's best debut. It closed with $146 million domestically and $352 million worldwide, Vaughn's biggest film ever. While these numbers were below the past three X-Men films, Fox stated they had achieved their goal by opening with about the same numbers as the first X-Men film and that it was an excellent start to a new chapter of the franchise. The film also earned high praise, considered as one of the best films in the franchise.

• Budget: $140,000,000.

• Domestic gross: $146,408,305. ($210.2 million adjusted)

• Worldwide gross: $352,616,690.

Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)

"Manners maketh man."

His fifth film. Based on the comic book series by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, it stars Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Strong, Taron Egerton, and Michael Caine. The film follows Gary "Eggsy" Unwin's recruitment by Harry Hart into Kingsman, a secret spy organisation. Eggsy joins a mission, in brutal and comedic fashion, to tackle a global threat from Richmond Valentine, a wealthy megalomaniac and eco-terrorist wanting to deal with climate change by wiping out most of humanity.

The project originated when Millar and Vaughn were at a bar discussing spy films, lamenting that the genre had become too serious over the years and deciding to do "a fun one." To have the time to make the film, Vaughn had to opt out of directing X-Men: Days of Future Past, which he 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."

Vaughn and Jane Goldman were keen to make some changes to Mark Millar's source story, and take this film in a slightly different direction. They crafted a backstory for the organization that was slightly less governmental, and the gentleman spy was no longer the street-punk's uncle, but a former colleague of his father's, who'd lost his own life while saving the spy.

There was a very bad accident on the scene where water started pouring into the Kingsman' dorm set. As Vaughn recalls "I shouted 'action!', the computer got it wrong and vrrrrssshh, everyone was twenty feet down underwater. Cameras, sound guys. People were in waders full of water, panic, everyone diving in, and pulling people out." The set, painstakingly planned and rehearsed using height markers and computer-programmed water tanks, washed away in a nearly Biblical flood when said computers went rogue. Vaughn said, "Those actors weren't acting, they were absolutely terrified. It was awful for the first day of filming."

Vaughn originally wanted the Kingsman agents to kill the dogs, but Goldman felt it risked losing the audience. Eventually, they came up with a compromise of using blanks instead. Harry's "stuffed dog" scene was kept in, but he explained it died of pancreatitis years later. The entire concept of having trainees kill a dog they have been paired with comes from Nazi training of SS officers. SS officer candidates were required to kill their training dog to demonstrate their lack of feelings and willingness to obey orders.

After studying the ends of old Bond movies, Vaughn found many innuendos that "always come from the men". This inspired him to include a scene at the end where Princess Tilde has anal sex with Eggsy for saving her. The scenes caused Vaughn to be accused of misogyny.

The film opened with $36 million, a very promising figure for a spy comedy. It closed with $128 million domestically and $414 million worldwide, becoming Vaughn's biggest film ever. It earned high praise, particularly for its comedy and action sequences, and launched the career of Taron Egerton. Vaughn was simply unstoppable. Five films, and all five had earned a great response and achieved cult status. This man was touching gold.

• Budget: $81,000,000.

• Domestic gross: $128,261,724. ($174.8 million adjusted)

• Worldwide gross: $414,351,546.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)

"A proper spy movie."

His sixth film. The sequel to Kingsman: The Secret Service, it stars Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Julianne Moore, Halle Berry, Pedro Pascal, Elton John, Edward Holcroft, Channing Tatum, and Jeff Bridges. The film follows members of Kingsman needing to team up with their American counterpart, Statesman, after the Kingsman organization is crippled and the world is held hostage by Poppy Adams and her drug cartel, "The Golden Circle."

In April 2015, Fox announced that a sequel was in production, but that it was unclear if Vaughn would return due to his interest in directing a Flash Gordon film. In June 2015, Vaughn said that he had begun writing the script for the sequel, and that he could return to direct. In September 2015, Millar reiterated that the sequel was in development and that Vaughn was looking for ways to bring Firth back without sacrificing the integrity of the story. He joked that he would bring Firth back as a zombie Harry Hart or Harry's evil twin.

Tequila was to have a bigger role in the story, but due to Channing Tatum's scheduling conflicts working on Logan Lucky, his role was reduced, and some of the scenes went to Whiskey. Notably, Whiskey got the lasso instead of Tequila.

The original cut had a total run time of 3 hours and 40 minutes. The movie had so many added scenes during production that Fox even asked Vaughn if he wanted to split this into two separate film. Vaughn shot down that idea and cut the film to 2 hours and 22 minutes.

It debuted with $39 million, higher than the original. But it didn't hold as well, closing with $100 million domestically. It was stronger overseas, allowing it to cross $400 million worldwide, almost on par with the original. But the catch... it wasn't well-received. That's weird, given that Vaughn was synonymous with entertaining quality. Points of criticism included the runtime, the anticlimactic way Firth was brought back, misleading marketing (Elton John somehow is more relevant in the film than Channing Tatum), and the sloppy writing. How could he miss? Well, everyone has that one misfire. Surely he will bounce back.

• Budget: $104,000,000.

• Domestic gross: $100,234,838. ($132.1 million adjusted)

• Worldwide gross: $410,902,662.

The King's Man (2021)

"Witness the bloody origin."

His seventh film. A prequel to the Kingsman films, it stars Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans, Matthew Goode, Tom Hollander, Harris Dickinson, Daniel Brühl, Djimon Hounsou, and Charles Dance. It focuses on several events during World War I and the birth of the Kingsman organization.

In June 2018, Vaughn announced that a prequel film titled Kingsman: The Great Game was in active development, stating that the plot would take place during the early 1900s and would depict the formation of the spy agency and that the project would film back-to-back with "the third regular Kingsman film" which was scheduled to be released in 2021. Vaughn was inspired to write the script for the prequel film after watching The Man Who Would Be King.

Vaughn admitted some scenes had to be cut from the film because they were "way too Kingsman-y.", and that this film needed to find a balance between the fun tone of the other Kingsman movies and respect for historical accuracy and the characters. He revealed that he had originally written three scenes featuring Rasputin that would have been so explicit that they likely would have received an NC-17 rating. If you're familiar with Rasputin, you know exactly what he was talking about.

With so many delays and heavy competition, the film failed to build anticipation. It ended up earning just $37 million domestically and $125 million worldwide, flopping at the box office. It also earned unfavorable reviews, particularly for its jarring tone and plain lack of fun. Okay, now that's two misses for Vaughn. Something's not working here. Maybe he should focus on anything outside Kingsman, perhaps that could change things up.

• Budget: $100,000,000.

• Domestic gross: $37,176,373. ($44.3 million adjusted)

• Worldwide gross: $125,897,478.

Argylle (2024)

"The greater the spy, the bigger the lie."

His eighth film. The film stars Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O'Hara, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, John Cena, and Samuel L. Jackson. Its plot centers on a reclusive author who is drawn into the world of spies and espionage after she realizes that a new spy novel she is writing mirrors real-world events.

Vaughn said the COVID-19 pandemic gave him the time to work on the film. He describes it as his ode to 1980s action thrillers like Die Hard and Lethal Weapon. He viewed Argylle as the first film in a trilogy, which would cross over with the Kingsman franchise. Vaughn cast Henry Cavill because "he needed someone who was born to play James Bond, which Henry is, and then nick him before Bond's studio did. He plays a larger-than-life action hero with a wink. It's very different from Kingsman." Cavill was, in fact, a finalist to play Bond in Casino Royale, but was rejected for being too young (he was then 22).

The film notably uses the song "Now and Then" by The Beatles, as Vaughn secured the rights a year before it was released. The song was being developed by Giles Martin, the son of longtime Beatles producer Sir George Martin, and Giles also served as music producer on Argylle. Vaughn recalled, "I was with [Giles] and I said, 'I'm really struggling to find what I call the romantic song of the movie, 'cause I need it to be sad, but hopeful...' And he said, 'Do you want to hear a new Beatles song?' And Giles has got a hell of a sense of humor, so I was like, 'Yeah, yeah. Whatever.' And he goes, 'No, I'm being deadly serious.' He played it to me, and it was as if Lennon had seen the film... We just slapped it on the movie, and we didn't have to edit anything - it just fitted the picture."

The film had a very strange development. When the film was announced, it was reported that it would be based on a book written by Elly Conway, later revealed as the fictional author of the in-universe Argylle novels. The claim was questioned by The Hollywood Reporter in September 2022, as they were unable to verify Conway's existence and their attempts to contact her, her publicist, and her talent agent were unsuccessful. Several social media users attempted to identify Conway and theorized that Taylor Swift had written the book with Conway as her pen name, based on several references associating Swift with Argylle. One clue that makes Swift fans claim that she is the real author is that Elly Conway and Swift have a Scottish Fold cat. Vaughn denied the theory, stating Conway is unrelated to Swift; however, Swift influenced the film's use of a Scottish Fold cat. Bryce Dallas Howard, who plays Conway in the film, opined that the film is "unconsciously inspired" by Swift.

The budget was reported by many to be $200 million, but Vaughn refuted that claim, saying: "I don't know how you spend $200 million on it. I actually don't. Unless you're going to make a five-hour CG fest." The film's budget wasn't reported, but it was less than the $200 million figure, which was for the licensing and distribution rights to the film and not the actual budget as had been perceived.

Apple was very confident in the film, collaborating with Universal in giving it a theatrical release. But the film massively flopped with just $45 million domestically and $96 million worldwide. It also earned negative reviews and word of mouth from audience, who panned its over-long runtime, convoluted writing, over-use of plot twists, misleading marketing, and... well, everything. Vaughn was surprised by the negative reviews, as test screenings had been well received, "I thought it was a fun, feel-good movie".

Strike 3 and you're out.

• Budget: N/A.

• Domestic gross: $45,207,275. ($46.5 million adjusted)

• Worldwide gross: $96,221,061.

Other Projects

Vaughn has also produced other films he didn't direct. These include Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Swept Away, Kick-Ass 2, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Fant4stic, Eddie the Eagle, Rocketman, and Tetris.

The Future

Vaughn launched a new studio with Cristiano Ronaldo, UR•Marv. Reportedly, they already produced two action films, with a third on the way, all set in the same series.

For so many years, Vaughn claims there will be more Kingsman films, including a third one with Egerton and Firth back. And then wanting to do a Kingsman/Argylle cinematic universe. But back in October 2024, 20th Century Studios executive Steve Asbell revealed that the studio has no plans for any sequels or prequels. It's dead, Jim.

FILMS (FROM HIGHEST GROSSING TO LEAST GROSSING)

Across those 8 films, he has made $1,645,543,694 worldwide. That's $205,692,961 per film.

The Verdict

So much fucking wasted potential.

Vaughn started his career with banger after banger. Now, Layer Cake and Stardust weren't box office hits, but they became very profitable with home media and earned cult status. Layer Cake is a fantastic crime film, Stardust is an incredible film and maybe the best live-action adaptation of Gaiman's works, Kick-Ass is fucking hilarious and, well, kicks ass, First Class is an incredible prequel, and Kingsman: The Secret Service is one of the best spy films ever.

What's fascinating about Vaughn is that he managed to create different films in tone and style: a crime thriller, a fantasy romance adventure, a R-rated superhero comedy, an X-Men prequel, and a spy comedy. These films represent a very great run for a blockbuster filmmaker. He was clearly creative, unique and competent in practically all areas.

But as the saying goes, the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

A Kingsman sequel should've been a slam dunk. There was so much material to lampoon and homage. But The Golden Circle feels like self-parody, as if it was something the characters would be watching in universe to mock it. He ruined Harry's ending with that stupid resurrection, killed Roxy for absolutely no reason, destroyed Whiskey's character development for a lame plot twist, and gave Merlin one of the worst exits ever (including a very forced "Country Roads" sing-along). Seriously, it's an example on how not to do a sequel.

Not content with that, he moves to another Kingsman film. But for some reason, he sets it in World War I to focus on the origins of the organization. That in itself is not a bad idea, given there's a lot of potential material. The film by itself is technically competent and he clearly did a lot of research... so why the hell is it so damn boring? It's a very forgettable film, that struggles over whether it's a comedy or a period drama. Adding in characters you don't care for, and a premise that borders on a homework assignment. But the worst comes at the very last minute, when Vaughn decides to close the film with a fucking MCU post-credits scene, introducing Hitler as the new big bad. And given real-life history, it's an even worse ending considering the heroes will fail to stop him. No one really thought this through. This ending has been memed for years, as some said this would be a post-credits scene for a WWI documentary. But those are just memes. Vaughn was crazy enough to actually include it in a $100 million film. The only thing missing was "Hitler will return" afterwards.

For some time, he sold Argylle as a film that would revitalize the spy genre and kickstart a new franchise. Apple invests so much money and everything is pointing in the right direction... and then the film opens, and gets the absolute worst reviews of Vaughn's career. For starters, how the hell is a spy comedy 139 minutes long? Then comes in the first plot twist. Then another plot twist. Then another plot twist that changed the previous plot twist. Then another plot twist. And another. And another. After a while, you just don't care for what happens on the screen. Convoluted and visually ugly. A film that gives blockbusters a bad rep. And because Vaughn couldn't help it, this was gonna be a cinematic universe shared with Kingsman. Because reasons. It's like he watched the Threat Level Midnight episode of The Office and decided to adapt it.

How could this happen? Directors can't lose their touch this hard. Some have their ups and downs, but they rarely drop like this. There's a lot of things that could explain why. Maybe it's because Jane Goldman stopped collaborating with him after The Golden Circle. Perhaps he's a case of someone who must be reined in. He already showed limitations with Kick-Ass; the film is brutal, but the comics are far worse, veering into edgelord territory, so he knew when not to push it much further. Maybe it was his obsession with franchises, sequels and cinematic universes. Your focus should be on making the best possible version of your film before starting to think about stuff like that. Maybe he bought into his own hype ("from the twisted mind of Matthew Vaughn").

But there's actually one simple explanation, that not many have brought up but it might be the most possible case: his audience grew up, he didn't. That's not saying that his films aged badly, they haven't. The problem is that while everyone grows older and expects new things, Vaughn's films somehow got more juvenile and childish. Just look at the "fingering mission" in The Golden Circle or the oil skating scene in Argylle. Now he doesn't know who his target audience is. Just compare Layer Cake and Argylle, they don't feel like it's the same director.

On his prime, he was unstoppable. Even when something didn't light the box office on fire, it quickly garned a cult following. It was a great life: fantastic films, a cult following, all while married to Claudia Schiffer. Not to mention the careers he helped launch or break out: Daniel Craig (he already had a career in supporting performances, but his lead role in Layer Cake is the one that opened the doors to Bond), Charlie Cox, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloë Grace Moretz, a lot of the First Class cast, and Taron Egerton. Vaughn was simply a genius. It's clear with his latest films, however, that his magic is gone. The fun stopped being fun, and so the films don't deliver on their full promise. To think that there was a time everything he touched was gold, but now his films feel like self-parody. And his obsession with trying to set up new franchises and teasing sequels and spin-offs feels like desperation. He has become a disappointment of a filmmaker.

Only time will tell on Vaughn's future. But the way things are right now, it seems his glory days are long past him.

Hope you liked this edition. You can find this and more in the wiki for this section.

The next director will be William Wyler. A legend from Old Hollywood, in ways no one else could be.

Don't ask me what's going on September 6 onwards, for I won't disclose it.