Henry Cavill’s latest spy comedy film, Argylle, flops heavily at the box office on its opening weekend with $18 million in domestic ticket sales. Its worldwide tally counts to only $35 million after international markets contributed a dismal $17 million. The movie costs $200 million to produce; it needs to do better in the coming weeks, or it will set the mark for the first-ever major bomb of the year.
It currently has a disappointing 35% score on Rotten Tomatoes and a C+ on CinemaScore. This is one of the few misfire projects from director Matthew Vaughn, and it seems scary to think that this could be the beginning of a disastrous trend.
Argylle Debuts In Theaters With A Weak Opening
Matthew Vaughn’s Argylle has a unique concept that interweaves complex storylines and interesting characters. However, the reception of the movie during its early screening, as well as the worldwide release, was already proof that it had a weak impact on the audience.
Not even the star-studded cast of Henry Cavill, Dua Lipa, John Cena, and Bryce Dallas Howard managed to bring bums on seats. Franchise Entertainment Research’s David A. Gross said via Variety:
“This is a weak opening for a new action comedy. For an original [action comedy] to break through, the humor has to jump off the screen. That’s not happening here.”
So far, Vaughn has two box-office bombs under his belt, 2021’s The King’s Man and Argylle, both films revolving around spy agents. This is definitely his niche and forte when it comes to movies, but looking at how these projects performed, the director might want to take a step back and reevaluate his creative decisions.
Will There Be A Sequel To Henry Cavill’s Argylle?
It seems that the underwhelming performance and the less-than-stellar reviews of Argylle might hinder Matthew Vaughn from continuing the promising franchise.
The director initially planned to make a trilogy, and until we get to the end of its theatrical run should we know if that plan will push through. In his conversation with Polygon, he shared his ideas for the possible sequel:
“So [after] Book One, then we would definitely do Argylle 2 the movie, which continues with the characters and the meta craziness. We’ve got some really fun ideas for that. And if we pull both of those off, then who knows what’s next?”
Of course, this sequel hinges on the success of the original installment. It needs to make at least twice its production cost to ensure profit. The theatrical release is also not the only place it can draw income; its upcoming Apple TV+ release will surely give it a financial boost.
It is bizarre to think that despite The King’s Man’s failure, the talk of its sequel is still ongoing. This will probably be the case with Henry Cavill’s spy movie, though Vaughn has to prepare himself as it already posits a huge risk just by the look of the box office figures.
Argylle is now showing in theaters worldwide.
