From the moment Matthew Vaughn left X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, we heard rumblings that it was to work on his developing project THE SECRET SERVICE, based on the comic book by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons. We now have confirmation via Deadline that the movie has moved from Universal to 20th Century Fox and is being fast-tracked for a 2014 release date.
THE SECRET SERVICE comic comes from the same creative team behind KICK-ASS, which was made into a film by Vaughn. Vaughn has already finished the screenplay with his writing partner Jane Goldman and will likely begin casting soon for a potential production start this August. Our very own Paul Shirey gave us a nice rundown of the comic back in November.
For those unfamiliar with THE SECRET SERVICE, it’s basically a James Bond inspired tale, only with James Bond turning a street hoodlum into a superspy. Think POINT OF NO RETURN meets JAMES BOND and you’ve got a decent formula there. The comic is fun, but I wouldn’t call it extraordinary. Thus far, it’s been a slow burn, but I do keep reading, so there’s that. Vaughn is a good fit for the material and I have no doubt he’ll deliver a good romp as he did with the first KICK ASS, but I feel like he should be tackling better material. He’s got the talent for bigger and better things, I think.
Mark Hamill will appear as himself in the film, but no other casting has been announced yet. Personally, I like that Vaughn has never returned for a sequel to one of his films, instead opting to try new projects each time. It remains to be seen if THE SECRET SERVICE will be a better choice than DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, but with Millar serving as a consultant at Fox, bringing this under that studio seems a natural fit for the best product possible.