While movie franchises aren't getting so weird that Superman and the Lone Ranger are actually fighting side by side, in the first trailer for The Man From U.N.C.L.E. we do have our first look at Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer teaming up east-meets-west style for some pretty awesome spy action. Check it out below!
It feels like it's been a long, long time since we first heard the news about a big screen adaptation of the classic The Man From U.N.C.L.E. television series - going back five years, in fact - but now our first look at the new summer blockbuster has finally arrived (thanks to Warner Bros. UK). In the film, Man of Steel's Henry Cavill is playing the Napoleon Solo to Armie Hammer's Russian Illya Kuryakin, and while their relationship looks just a tad bit contentious (to put it lightly) it also appears that the movie will put the two men on a rather fun adventure through some great-looking period settings.
During its years in development, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. took multiple different forms, and it's interesting to see how it turned out. Originally Steven Soderbergh was going to helm the film as one of the last movies he made before retirement, and he was even in talks with George Clooney for the Napoleon Solo role. Things started to go a bit sideways when Clooney was forced to leave the project, and almost exactly one year after signing on to the project Soderbergh decided to drop off too.
A few weeks later The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was taken out of limbo, and started to take the form that it's in today - although it didn't exactly happen quickly. Guy Ritchie came aboard to replace Steven Soderbergh, and actually signed Tom Cruise to play Napoleon Solo and Armie Hammer to star as Illya Kuryakin - but then the film hit another snag when Cruise decided to focus his attention on Mission: Impossible 5, forcing the movie to eventually replace him with Henry Cavill. It's been a long road for this movie, and it's kind of amazing it's actually here.
I can't say that The Man From U.N.C.L.E. trailer really blew me away, but it does look like a good bit of summer blockbuster fun and features a really fantastic cast. In addition to Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer (two really great young young male leads), the supporting line-up also includes the likes of Jared Harris, Hugh Grant, and Swedish actress Alicia Vikander. This is also Guy RItchie's first non-Sherlock Holmes feature since 2008's RocknRolla, so it will be interesting to see what he brings to the table style-wise.
Look for The Man From U.N.C.L.E. in theaters on August 14th.
