I’d almost forgotten about Guy Ritchie taking over The Man From U.N.C.L.E., but it’s an appropriate time to be reminded- Ritchie took it from Soderbergh, who bailed for his recently released Side Effects projects, after all. And what’s a better reminder that a project exists than hearing Tom Cruise might want to hop into the lead role?
Since Ritchie took over the project in late 2011, we haven’t heard much from the film nor Ritchie himself. The director did attach himself to Treasure Island, but even that came with scant details. Both are major projects at Warner Brothers and while surely development has been moving forward, it hasn’t been clear which project was the priority. Today’s casting notice suggests U.N.C.L.E. is still up next, with Deadline suggesting the project remains of great interest to the studio. Cruise obviously has plenty of spy film credit, and if U.N.C.L.E. remains a period piece as originally planned, there wouldn’t be much conflict with his continuing Ethan Huntery.
As we learn that Cruise is circling this project (he’s not signed or anything yet), we also learn that Jack Reacher might have inched past the gross total that lights up the sequel signs, while All You Need Is Kill apparently piqued WB’s interest enough to seek Cruise for Ritchie’s production. It’s good to be in the Cruise business.