Like many other long-in-development potential blockbusters (Flash Gordon,Ghostbusters 3) the big-budget adaptation of the 1960s television spy show The Man from U.N.C.L.E. has seen a hard road to the screen. Languishing since the 1990s, Wedding Crashers director David Dobkin came and went, followed by Steven Soderbergh, who eventually departed with his star George Clooney following.
Sherlock Holmes director Guy Ritchie wound up on board as director, re-writing the script with producer Lionel Wigram. Tom Cruise was attached to star as CIA agents Napoleon Solo before bowing out to focus on Mission: Impossible 5, with Batman v Superman star Henry Cavill taking over opposite Armie Hammer, who has long been slated to play KGB agent Illya Kuryakin.
We learned earlier this year that Warner Bros. shifted the release date of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. from January to August 2015, which could be a sign of the studio’s faith in the property’s box office chances. Now we have our first official image from the film (via Collider), which features Cavill, Hammer and co-star Alicia Vikander in full ’60s glory.
Check it out below:
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We’ve known for a while that Ritchie and company are keeping the show’s 1960s Cold War setting, along with the basic premise of two spies from the world’s biggest rivals at the time having to work together. The image above seems to have nailed the costumes and atmosphere of the period, with Cavill’s suave suit complementing Hammer’s Swinging Sixties look.
With the film now apparently complete, can we expect a trailer soon? It will be interesting to see how Ritchie applies his hyper-kinetic style to this potential franchise reboot. The director made an action-oriented Sherlock Holmes series not just successful but critically accepted (for the most part), and while Hammer starred in last year’s infamous misfire The Lone Ranger, that movie’s failure wasn’t perceived as his fault.
Plus, star Henry Cavill was in the running to play James Bond in Casino Royale before Daniel Craig won the role. Now that Cavill is our firmly-established big screen Superman, his star power could benefit the film’s potential to launch an all-new spy series.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. will be released on August 14, 2015.
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