Will Tom Cruise Choose To Accept THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. ?

Tom Cruise is in early negotiations to take the lead in Guy Ritchie’s The Man From U.N.C.L.E for Warner Bros. If he signs on it would be the second time that Cruise has starred in a big screen adaptation of a 1960s television spy series – the first (obviously) being Mission: Impossible.

If Cruise signs on – and it’s a big IF- it would be yet another potential franchise for the actor, who is currently gearing up for a fifth Mission: Impossible, while a second Jack Reacher movie is apparently in the offing. Cruise would be good casting, but it’s likely too similar to Mission: Impossible, which like U.N.C.L.E. was popular in the wake of the stellar box office success of the early James Bond films. Cruise has a habit of attaching himself to a plethora of projects, but he’s very selective in what he makes.

Tom Cruise would replace George Clooney in the role of Napoleon Solo in the spy flick. Clooney was attached when Steven Soderbergh was set to direct the film, which at that time was set in the 1960s (Clooney dropped out because of back problems, Soderbergh left over budget issues).

It’s unknown if that is still the case now that Ritchie is involved, but his Sherlock Holmes films and X-Men: First Class both show that period action films can be profitable. More when it comes in. Source:

Deadline.