Liam Neeson Has Joined Matthew Vaughn's KINGSMAN: THE GREAT GAME
According to a recent report from Deadline, Liam Neeson has been cast in Matthew Vaughn’s upcoming Kingsman prequel film, Kingsman: The Great Game. The actor’s name was mentioned as if it was something that was already known, but it’s the first time his name has been associated with the film, so that’s cool! Neeson will make an awesome addition to the movie!
We don’t know who Neeson will be playing, but he will join the previously cast Ralph Fiennes and Harris Dickinson (The Darkest Minds), which will reportedly take place in 1910. Then it was reported that Brad Pitt and Rachel Weisz were in talks as well. The movie will also include Daniel Brühl (Captain America: Civil War), Game of Thrones star Charles Dance, Rhys Ifans (Harry Potter, Spider-Man), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass), and Matthew Goode (Watchmen).
The hero of the story is a character named Conrad, “a cocky young son of a British Duke determined to serve his country.” His parents are the “Duke and Duchess of Oxford (Oxfords, not brogues) and Conrad will find himself thrust into the midst the world of espionage with some of history’s most dangerous spies and assassins.” Dickinson will be playing this role.
Fiennes will most likely be taking on the role of Conrad’s father, the Duke of Oxford. It’s also reported that there will also be another prominent member of the Oxford household. That will be Conrad’s nanny, Polly.
Polly is described as “a ruthless force of nature, Polly is instrumental in raising Conrad and is not afraid to go toe-to-toe with his father.” This is the role that Weisz is up for.
Pitt would take on one of the most influential figures of WWI… Grigori Rasputin. “Rasputin was a controversial figure in Russia, having gained considerable influence over Tsar Nicholas II after ‘healing’ his hemophiliac son Alexi.” It’s said that the film will focus “on Rasputin’s ‘unscrupulous and Machiavellian’ ways in the final days of the Russian Imperialism.”
Two other key figures from WWI that will play a part in the story include Gavrilo Princip and Margaretha Zelle. “Princip was among those who assassinated Austrian Archduke Ferdinand, one of several key events that led to the British becoming involved in the war. In the film, Princip will work for the ‘cruel and vindictive’ Shepherd, a shadow figure who seems to be one of the film’s key figures.”
As for Margaretha Zelle, she was a Dutch-born French spy, whose real name was Mata Hari. “Mata Hari was executed by a firing squad after admitting she had served as a double agent for the Germans during the war.”
It’s also reported that the movie will include Irish General Herbert Kitchener, who was the Secretary of State for War during WWI. It is explained that he is a close friend of Conrad’s father, and Kitchener may “provide the young man with his opportunity to serve Great Britain. Kitchener’s ever-present, ever-prepared aide, Max Morton, will also play a role in film’s plot and, as is to be expected in a spy film, everything with him may not be what it seems.”
Ifans would “play a dangerous and manipulative Russian mystic, while Brühl and Dance’s roles are being kept under wraps.”
After Vaughn is finished with this movie, he will start work on Kingsman 3, which will conclude the story of Eggsy and Harry.
Kingsman: The Great Game will be the next film in the franchise and will be released on February 14th, 2020.