After losing both George Clooney as a star and Steven Soderbergh as a director, things finally looked as though they were back on track for the long in-development adaptation of the 60s spy series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Guy Ritchie, who has found recent mainstream success with the Sherlock Holmes movies, became attached to helm last December, Tom Cruise came on-board to play Napoleon Solo in March, and Armie Hammer signed up to play Illya Kuryakin, Napoleon's partner, in April. But once again problems have arisen, as one of those very important pieces is once again missing.
Deadline is reporting that Cruise has decided he no longer wants to make The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and instead focus on his already-established franchise based on a spy television series: Mission: Impossible. While Warner Bros. was planning on having Ritchie start production on the new film this fall, Cruise is now planning to use that time to get Mission: Impossible 5 going, hoping to start shooting before the end of the year. It's worth noting that the sequel doesn't currently have a director attached, but does have Iron Man 3 co-writer Drew Pearce handling the script.
Obviously, these leaves WB with a considerable problem. They are once again looking for an actor to take the lead role, though replacing somebody with Cruise's star power isn't exactly an easy task. Unfortunately, the site doesn't mention any of the stars the studio is considering. Hammer is still attached to the project and while she isn't mentioned in the new report, presumably Swedish actress Alicia Vikander is still attached as the female lead.
