After Steven Soderbergh exited The Man From U.N.C.L.E. last month due to budgetary and casting difficulties, Warner Bros. were naturally keen to fill the director’s chair with a big name in his place, and it looks like they’re making their move.
Deadline report that Guy Ritchie and his new production partner Lionel Wigram are in talks to board the project as producers, with Ritchie now intended to take Soderbergh’s role behind the camera too.
The pair have worked together on both of Ritchie’s last two projects, Sherlock Holmes and its (just-about-to-be-released) sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, and are now setting up their own production company, with The Man From U.N.C.L.E. set to be the first project for the new shingle.
The film already has a script in place from Soderbergh’s recently frequent collaborator, Scott Z. Burns (Contagion), so hopefully Ritchie can get moving on this pretty soon. Casting has been a problem so far, with George Clooney originally intended for the role. When back injuries ruled him out, given the action necessitated by the script, quite a few names surfaced as his replacement, noticeably with a younger skew, including Bradley Cooper, Ryan Gosling, Joel Edgerton, Michael Fassbender, and most recently, Channing Tatum.
Whether Ritchie and Wigram’s casting list will be starting from scratch or will begin with some of these names remains to be seen, but I’m definitely looking forward to hearing about who’ll be taking the leads on this. Production was originally scheduled to begin in the spring, and though there’s no word yet if that’s still the case, I’m hoping the change in direction won’t cause any delays.
Though Ritchie’s involvement as director isn’t yet set in stone, I’m hoping that it’s only a matter of time before the deal is made for him to also take the helm on this alongside producing, because I think he’d do a great job of it. I’m a huge Ritchie fan – aren’t we all? – and I’d love to see him take on this sixties-set action/thriller. I’m also still waiting for the day when we get news on the long-awaited RocknRolla sequel, but I have a feeling that’s more of an ‘if’ than a ‘when’. Time will tell.
Either way, Warner Bros. are clearly firmly demonstrating with this move that they’ve got a lot of faith in the project, and hopefully we’ll be able to bring you more news on the producers’ talks soon; with any luck, that news will include Ritchie making a deal to direct too.
Ritchie’s latest film, Sherlock Holmes: A game of Shadows, will be hitting the big screen next Friday, on 16th December, and that’s definitely something to look forward to too. It’s going to be immense.
