Matthew Vaughn: 'Sequels are weird'

Matthew Vaughn found writing the script for the Kingsman sequel to be a challenge.

Following the success of his 2015 film Kingsman: The Secret Service, which grossed over $414 million (£284 million) worldwide, Vaughn confirmed he was penning a follow-up to the hit movie, titled Kingsman: The Golden Circle.

This story follows secret agent Gary 'Eggsy' Unwin (Taron Egerton) and Merlin (Mark Strong) joining forces with “Statesman", their American counterpart, after organisation Kingsman was destroyed by newcomer villain Poppy (Julianne Moore). Sophie Cookson returns to the sequel as Roxy, with former Bond girl Halle Berry, Magic Mike star Channing Tatum and musician Elton John set to join the cast. But even with such big names, Vaughn admits he struggled to come up with a narrative he thought fans would be satisfied with.

"Sequels are weird," he told Empire magazine. "The audience wants what you did before, but if you do that, they go: 'well this is just f***ing unoriginal and boring!' Writing this was the hardest thing I've ever done."

The 45-year-old initially wasn’t convinced he should direct the sequel and was also concerned that he hadn’t come up with strong antagonist to base the film around.

But he claims he woke up one morning "with the whole storyline in place" and a new villain plot.

"I was worried about the villain. Spy films are only as good as their villains," he explained, adding that it is too early to divulge many details about the movie's bad guys.

However, the Kick-Ass director thinks the introduction of American agents to the narrative makes the new film feel "fresh and unique". Audiences can expect action sequences like they have never seen before as well as the addition of "bigger, funnier and crazier" moments.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle is set to hit movie theatres in June next year (17).