Dua Lipa and Henry Cavill in Matthew Vaughn's Argyle. in the upcoming spy blockbuster Argyle, but one name associated with the film is not so much «who's who» as «who is it?»: Ellie Conway, author of the novel on which the film is based.
B while most debut novelists would be considered hitting the jackpot if they were offered The Bedtime Book, director Matthew Vaughn picked up Conway's book as the basis for what is touted as the start of a major franchise. The stellar cast of the first installment, which Apple Original Films reportedly paid an incredible $200 million for, includes Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Bryan Cranston, Samuel L. Jackson, Rob Delaney and Dua Lipa.
If there was an award for best debut author, Conway would be chosen, except for the small issue that there is every indication that Ellie Conway does not exist.
When Vaughn, director of the world-changing spy comedies Kingsman, announced that he was filming Argyle in July 2021, he raved about the book: “When I read this early draft of the manuscript, I felt it was the most incredible and original spy franchise since Ian Fleming's books of the 50s. It will redefine the spy genre.» You might think that this undiscovered genius would immediately hit all the media. Instead, the recluse Conway makes J.D. Salinger look like Katie Price.
She has an Instagram account, but where one would expect to see pictures of her living on Apple money, or at least excitedly posing with a test copy of her novel, she hasn't posted anything yet. Conway's British publisher, Bantam, offers only the briefest biography: «Ellie Conway is the author of the long-awaited debut thriller Argyle. She lives in the United States and is currently working on the next installment in the series.»
You don't have to be cryptanalyst to notice that it's a bit rum, that Conway's name is spelled differently — both «Ellie» and «Ellie» — in various pieces of promotional material.
As a thriller critic for this newspaper, I tried for some time to get hold of an advance copy of Conway's novel, to no avail, although publishers usually try to give copies of their biggest books of the year to reviewers months in advance of publication. . When I asked Bantam if there was any more information about Ellie Conway expected, I was told that «the announcement will be made soon»: that was six months ago.
In the meantime, the publication date of the book is constantly being pushed back from September 2022 to March, and is now scheduled for July. These delays are presumably not for editorial reasons — how much work can be done on the book that rocked Matthew Vaughn over two years ago? – so it must be assumed that someone organizes a carefully timed campaign to ensure maximum visibility for both the book and the film. (The movie also looks like it will be out a long time ago too: the first mini-trailer was released in March 2022, but no release date has been set. Although Argyle was originally hyped as Dua Lipa's acting debut, the Barbie movie has now bypassed it. .)
The cover of Ellie Conway's long shelved thriller Argyle. Credit & Copyright: Ellie Conway
So why don't we know anything about Ellie Conway? One explanation could be that she is a shy genius who doesn't want to reveal her true identity, like the Italian writer under the pseudonym Elena Ferrante. On the other hand, she may be a spy who is forbidden by the rules of her service to use her real name, like David Cornwell, known to his readers as John le Carré.
Or perhaps she's already a superstar author who wants a book judged on her own merits, as JK Rowling did when she started writing crime novels under the name «Robert Galbraith.» Could «Ellie» really be Stephen King? James Patterson? Jonathan Franzen?
On the other hand, the marketing of the film and the novel seems so closely and idiosyncratic to each other—after all, it is rare for a film to be made from a novel before it has been tried by the public—that there has been speculation that Ellie Conway is a character played by Bryce Dallas Howard in the film. The film is reportedly about an amnesiac secret agent who is tricked into thinking she is the author of spy novels to explain the flashbacks that surface: Ellie may be a figment of the filmmakers' imagination.
In that case, who wrote the extra novel? Some ghost writer sworn to keep an eternal secret? Perhaps Vaughn himself with his co-star Jane Goldman? If the manuscript didn't exist in 2021, I would vote for ChatGPT.
I guess everything will be revealed eventually. But after this ridiculously extended teaser, Ellie Conway's personality will be something of a wet squib unless it's someone amazing. What has Donald Trump been doing since he left the White House?
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