'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.' discussion thread

[Wangman Page]

Armie Hammer will join Tom Cruise in Warner Bros' big screen adaptation of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., according to Deadline. Presumably, Hammer will play the Soviet agent Illya Kuryakin to Cruise's Napoleon Solo.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. once had Steven Soderbergh attached to direct and George Clooney in Cruise's role, but due to a bad back, Clooney had to leave the project. Soderbergh left not long after over his disagreements with studio on the movie's budget and who to replace Clooney with.

After Soderbergh left, WB went with Guy Ritchie at the helm. The studio must have thought it struck gold when Cruise boarded the movie this March.

Soderbergh's version is set in the '60s to make it look like the TV show, but we don't know if Ritchie will go with this vision or institute his own. With Cruise on board, the studio may be more willing to loosen the purse strings a bit in whatever Ritchie has in mind.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is supposedly the first movie of a planned trilogy, so if the first one does well, expect more to follow.

The original TV series centers on two agents working for a secret agency comprised of people from every nationalities. Their mission is to help maintain political and legal order in the world.

Hammer is starring opposite Johnny Depp in Disney's The Lone Ranger. He is playing the title character, with Depp as his Indian sidekick Tonto. The Lone Ranger will be in theaters this July 3rd.

So he gets to work with Depp then Cruise. I hope someone asks him Is Johnny truly a much better actor than Cruise? Wasn't the guy who portrays Ducky on NCIS in the original Man From UNCLE? He should have a cameo if so.

 

[Bad News Booty]

Yes he was so was Robert Vaughn. Also Hammer worked with Leo in J Edgar so he is going toe to toe with some pretty good actors. I like Hammer and think he's got a long career ahead of him.

 

[Wangman Page]

Warner Bros' The Man From U.N.C.L.E. has found its woman. Alicia Vikander will join Tom Cruise and Armie Hammer in the big screen adaptation of the '60s TV series, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

The Swedish actress is not well-known in the States, but she was recently seen in the Keira Knightley-starrer Anna Karenina and will appear in two higher profile movies later this year: DreamWorks' The Fifth Estate and Warner Bros' The Seventh Son.

Vikander will play a British agent who has a thing for cars so we know who's going to do the driving. This is a character created specifically for the movie.

George Clooney was originally attached to star, but he had to drop out due to a bad back. Cruise boarded the movie early this year to play American agent Napoleon Solo maybe because Top Gun 2 was postponed indefinitely due to director Tony Scott's death. Hammer came on later to play Soviet agent Illya Kuryakin.

We haven't heard of any new work done on the script so we can only assume it'll still be Scott Z. Burns' take that Guy Ritchie will be directing from.

The cast is looking to be pretty decent overall. Still need Ducky from NCIS to make this complete.