Cavill and Hammer in the new-look The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
Ten things you need to know about Guy Ritchie’s big-screen reboot of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
Direct or Guy Ritchie St arring Henry Cavill, Hugh Grant, Alicia Vikander, Armie Hammer ETA 14 August
01 The U stands for United
That’s ‘United Network Command for Law and Enforcement’, the secret spy ring at the centre of the cult ’60s TV series that’s finally getting a feature film. Sort of like a buddy-cop Bond, Robert Vaughn and David McCallum starred as Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin in the original show – two spooks from opposite sides of the Cold War who partnered up to fight THRUSH (the evil terrorist agency, not the infection).
02 It’s actually happening
On and off the production slate for more than five years, the project was nursed by Steven Soderbergh until he dropped out in 2013. When Sodey was boss, the project attracted almost every leading man in Hollywood at various points. And we really do mean every leading man, including George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Ryan Gosling, Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ewan McGregor, Robert Pattinson, Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Michael Fassbender, Bradley Cooper, Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio.
03 Guy Ritc hie’s direct ing
Working with his Sherlock Holmes co-writer Lionel Wigram, Ritchie, who’s fast becoming the go-to guy for period buddy-crimefighter reboots, gave the stalled script a complete overhaul. He shot at Leavesden next door to old mucker Matthew Vaughn’s Kingsman: The Secret Service, begging the question: which Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels alumni can come up with the coolest spy movie in 2015?
04 Henry Cavill is the new Robert Vaughn
“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” said the 81-yearold Vaughn of his replacement. “I’ve seen him wearing the Superman suit. He’s an attractive actor.” Good looks approved, the Man of Steel beat the casting crush to land the lead role of Napoleon Solo – the charming, urbane American secret agent with a licence to kill and an eye for the ladies.
05 Armie Hamme r is excited
Cast as Solo’s straight-laced Russian co-spy Illya Kuryakin, Armie Hammer is still working on his poker face. “Getting to play a KGB spy is exciting,” he gushes. “I get to work with Henry Cavill, which is exciting. And with Guy Ritchie directing, it should be really exciting.” We still can’t work out whether or not he’s excited.
06 It’s still set in the ’60s
While a modern reimagining was briefly on the cards a few years ago, Ritchie’s U.N.C.L.E. will be staying firmly rooted in the Cold War. “Espionage was so cool in the ’60s!” says executive producer David Dobkin. “You had to physically get the microfilm. You had to actually kill people. Before all this modern technology, we had a very different kind of spy movie. To me, that was the golden age.”
07 Equality is key
Two guys means two girls – with rising stars Alicia Vikander and Elizabeth Debicki both signed on as lead female foils. The original show had a notoriously high turnover of femme fatales (thanks to Solo’s commitment issues), but it sounds like the reboot is going some way to redressing the gender balance. “I play a German car mechanic from East Berlin,” says Vikander. “There’s a humor to it… but it’s more like an irony.”
08 It’s got a good supporting cast
Running things from the basement-base of a dry-cleaning shop in New York (guarded by laser beams and remotecontrolled machine guns), Hugh Grant is U.N.C.L.E.’s new British spy-chief, Alexander Waverly. Elsewhere on the cast list, Luca Calvani ( When In Rome) is the Italian bad guy, and Ritchie’s back working with Jared ‘Moriarty’ Harris.
09 Superman takes a kicking
Aside from mentioning a mysterious criminal organisation, nuclear weapons and the daughter of a German scientist, the official synopsis gives very little away. But filming locations have included Goodwood, Naples and Greenwich Old Royal Naval College. One on-set spy also spotted Cavill getting repeatedly kicked in the balls by Calvani in the middle of Hankley Common…
10 It’s going to be massive
Shifting its January release slot to the middle of summer, U.N.C.L.E. is no longer competing with Kingsman: The Secret Service at the box-office. On the other hand, it is competing with Jurassic World, Terminator: Genisys, Ant-Man and Fantastic Four – not to mention the build up to Bond 24. Swinging a poison-tipped umbrella into the busiest blockbuster season ever, Solo and Kuryakin are going big or going home.