There is a strange mystery surrounding Henry Cavill and Apple upcoming spy thriller Argyllwith many observers—including The Hollywood Reporter— noting that they can find no trace of the listed author of the book on which the film is based.
The author in question is said to be Ely (or possibly Ellie) Conway, a debut novelist who inked a deal to make her debut novel (about “a troubled agent with a tarnished past who might just be qualified to take on one of the most powerful men in the world”) twas turned into a $200 million movie by Apple. This is especially notable since the book isn’t out yet and won’t be out until March 2023, just two months before the movie arrives on Apple TV+; Instead, per director Matthew VaughnConway sold the book on the strength of an “early manuscript draft”. Details on Conway himself they are incredibly rare online: No one can find a trace of herbeyond Penguin Books bio which lists her simply as “the author of the long-awaited debut thriller Argyll,” and an empty Instagram page which uses the book cover as a logo. THR—as well as author Josh Rosenberg, who wrote about this mystery in March— both note that all involved, including its listed agent, they’ve gone very quiet, very quickly, when asked about Conway’s whereabouts or background.
It’s all especially noteworthy because Apple is dropping one lot money and talent into this project, with Cavill’s co-stars in the film including Sam Rockwell, Bryce Dallas Howard, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, John Cena, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, and Samuel L. Jacksonwith Kingsman‘small Vaughnn direction. There are even murmurs of a potential franchise, though the current deal with the studio is for just one film.
It is admittedly possible that all here is in progress—that Conway sold the book on the strength of a very strong plan, but just wants to stay out of the spotlight while they finish their already very successful book. Books I am doing are selected before ending with some regularity, although it is usually non-fiction, and usually with a release date not so close to the movie’s release date. We have no idea what the real answer is here—Weird metaplastic twist? Nickname of a famous author? Boring old reality?—but, really: What is a spy thriller about if not a bit of conspiracy thinking?
