That film is having its world premiere today in London, ahead ofits February 2 U.S. theatrical releasethroughUniversal.
Marv is owned and controlled by Vaughn and Claudia Schiffer, his wife of 23 years.
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Vaughn shot back, What do you mean?
Bryce Dallas Howard and Samuel L. Jackson in ‘Argylle,’ and Matthew VaughnPeter Mountain/Universal/Baz Bamigboye
And his friend went, Trust me, it will be a f*cking disaster.
He decided to keep doing his own thing with his team at Marv.
Vaughn sits back in the corner table were sharing at a restaurant in Mayfair.
Dua Lipa and Henry Cavill in ‘Argylle’ (Universal)Apple Original Films
[My friend] actually said, Someone should make the documentary of you having a boss.
And I went, Whoa.
And he knew what he was talking about and he was right, Vaughn says now.
And he said, Look, only sell if you want nothing to do with the business.
That was never going to happen.
Vaughn wakes up every morning brimming with ideas the weirder the better and his outlet is Marv Films.
Ill probably never let it go, he tells me.
For starters, hes passionate about movies and the business of making movies.
And hes passionate abut the art of mischief.
But something was ever so slightly off; couldnt put a finger on what it was, though.
The filmmaker roars with laughter.
I told them to give nothing away to you and pretend its just a normal thriller.
He played the same trick in a follow-up visit.
The less you give away about the plot, the more people enjoy it, he says.
Its a date movie in the way the 1984 Michael Douglas-Kathleen TurnerRomancing the Stonepic was.
Stanley Donens1963movie Charade, starring Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant, also was an inspiration.
And its been really good fun having them involved withArgylle, which he calls a date movie.
Also their cat Chip plays Elly Conways watchful puss Alfie.
Chip got the role after another cat was fired.
We had an acting cat.
Got rid of the acting cat.
I asked the budget, How much are we paying for this cat?
And they went, Seventy-five grand.
I went, OK, that will come off the budget.
No more acting cat.
Chip enters stage right to play Alfie.
The videos being teased out from today.
It features Boy George, DeBose and Nile Rodgers with Vaughn providing backing vocals.
He also co-wrote the song with Lorna Balfe, Gary Barlow, George Alan ODowd and Stuart Price.
Vaughns a huge fan of DeBose and is eager to work with her some more.
I like to think shes my new muse.
Shes brilliant, he says.
He also wants to work again with hisArgyllestars Howard, Rockwell and Cavill.
They said, Well come to Naples.
They met and enjoyed tubs of pistachio ice cream.
Vaughn recalls that the two Apple executives spoke about making original movies.
They said, Were going to back people.
They were like, Yeah, everyone wants it.
Easy to say, harder to do, says Vaughn.
He remembers Van Amburg was smart enough to persuade me in two seconds.
He just said, Apple PresentsTetris.
Marriage made in heaven.
And I was like, Well yeah.
They were wonderful partners on that, which then gave me the confidence to produce a movie with them.
Ill figure it out.
Because everyone talks a big game and then over-promises, under-delivers.
And theyre men of their words.
Theyve got great tastes.
And theyre men from television and theyre navigating in the movie business when theyre not from the movie business.
At the end of the day, theyve made some very good movies, which is hard.
They won a f*cking Oscar [forCODA].
They bought it, but they still did it.
Anybody else could have boughtCODA, but they bought it.
They took that step.
Vaughn says that Erlicht and Van Amburg encouraged all the names that are inArgylle.
It was a joint effort of how to be brave.
First of all, they were willing to make the movie just with no cast attached, he adds.
They told him to go with his gut and cast people he wanted.
What do you think about Sam Rockwell?, he asked them.
And they went, Hes a brilliant f*cking actor.
Do you think it would work?
I went, Sam, hes one of my favorite actors.
And they went, We love it.
They loved the idea of Cavill as well.
Theyd just done a documentary [Dads] with her at the time, so they knew her.
Bryan Cranston already was very much on their radar.
Remember, they madeBreaking Badwhen they ran [Sony Pictures Television], he reminds.
Anyone that can getOppenheimer$1billion are f*cking geniuses, he says admiringly.
I always wanted to work with Donna.
Vaughn says that that there has been no interference from Apple and Universal.
Oh no, we financed the movie and licensed it.
Thats what we do now.
Ive had the best of both worlds with Apple and Universal.
I dont know how you spend $200 million on it, he says.
Unless youre going to make a five-hour CG fest.
One of the problems with films is that theyre too expensive, Vaughn says.
A lot of the big blockbusters coming out are big spenders.
Our budgets a third what they spend, right?
He says he runs a lean operation with longtime producing team of Adam Bohling and David Reid.
We still duck and dive, but where they save money is by having scripts ready.
Studios greenlight movies and the screenplays arent finished, he complains.
Imagine building a skyscraper and you go, all right, then, f*ck it.
And then they get to the eighth floor and theyre like, Were not sure about this.
Get another architect … and the whole thing collapses because they didnt build the foundation.
They had no blueprint.
The amount of blockbusters that theyre still writing the script for on the morning they start shooting.
If youve got a script, you might navigate any storm.
Its having a map, he argues.
Most of our scripts we pre-write and then we do the budget restrictions.
But we also do a lot of rehearsals to stamp out the problems.
Vaughn says that he owes my whole directing career to Schiffer.
Guy Ritchie had to pull out of directingLayer Cake.
I thought, Well, thats it, Im f*cked.
That movie is not going to happen.
And then Claudia said to me, Why dont you direct it?
I went, Youre crazy.
But Schiffer was adamant.
And J.J. Connolly, the author of theLayer Cakebook, backed her up.
It was tough, though.
We had no actors, nothing.
No money, nothing.
I remember saying to her, Look this could really f*ck up my career.
To her credit, she went, Ill back you.
Schiffer backed Vaughn to the tune of 2million ($2.55 million).
We founded Marv together.
He has since paid back every penny.
Shes done very well out of Marv.
Weve both done very well.
But Ive always been grateful to her because it would never have occurred to me to direct.
It felt like something way out, unapproachable.
They work closely together.
Schiffer has an entire floor of the Marv office building they own in Soho.
Schiffer worked closely with her husband onArgyllebecause it was more of a female-oriented movie.
Claudias involved with a lot.
I ran all the casting by her.
She watched all the auditions and gave me good notes, he tells me.
She also visited set a lot because Chip the cat had to be looked after.
Its hush-hush, he whispers.
He promises to reveal more toBreaking Bazsoon.
Vaughn recounts a time when during rehearsals for the film, Daniel Craig offered a piece of friendly advice.
He told him to stop giving line readings to Michael Gambon.
Actors f*cking hate it, the Bond star warned.
So let him do his job.
Gambon was sweet, says Vaughn.
He mimicked me and had a laugh, but he never said anything about line readings.
… Thats why I loved the man.
The great actor used to take Vaughn to the pub to help him through the chaos.
I didnt know what I was doing, but he was helping me a lot.
Thats why Ill always be grateful to him.
Its like having Imax at home.
I watched a bit of a movie on it, and it …blew my mind.
Im telling you its going to change the world.
Its going to transform everything, he says.
But what about the communal experience of watching movies in a theater?, I ask.
He counters that can still happen only well be sitting in theaters wearing these headsets.
Itll shake up the industry, he tells me.
But it needs shaking up.
That film will revitalize the Marvel universe, says Vaughn.
Weve been chatting for hours.
I roar with laughter and remind him that a few hours earlier hed mumbled about having media training.
I had media training, all right?
But it was bonkers, he says.
I have never laughed so hard.
So I got off the phone after about 20 minutes.
I was like, Can we just stop this?
How did this happen?, I ask, aghast.
Theres a few times in my life where Ive gotten into hot potatoes.
He adds: Because there is a whole new world that I dont actually totally understand.
I never went back.
