Man From U.N.C.L.E. Gets New Writer; Wedding Crashers Director Attached To Helm
The Man From U.N.C.L.E., which originally saw life as a TV show in the mid-’60s, has long been in the Hollywood remake pile. Back in 2004 or 2005Kick-Assdirector Matthew Vaughn was set to direct, but dropped out to make another film that eventually didn’t happen. (He madeStardustinstead.)
But the film keeps on going. Now there’s a new writer on board, and a new director attached:David Dobkin, who directedWedding Crashersand wasonce setto makeThe Flashfor Warner Bros.
THRhas the info, but because things are still in early stages there’s not much to go on.Max Borensteinis writing this new draft. (I have no idea how many drafts of the film have been bought up until now.) Borenstein wroteJIMI, a biopic about Jimi Hendrix, and wrote and directed a feature calledSwordswallowers and Thin Men.
So, are we looking at a cheeky update, or a more straightforward new telling? No idea at this point. I’m hoping for something more along the lines of the Brian De PalmaMission: Impossible!film, rather thanGet Smartor, shudder,Starsky and Hutch. But it’s so easy to go for the cheese with a concept like this, so I’m afraid we’re in for more silliness.
Obviously the source material remains the original TV show, in which Robert Vaughn was Napoleon Solo, an agent of the United Network Command for Law Enforcement. He and his Russian partner, played by David McCallum, opposed the efforts of THRUSH, revealed in spin-off novels to be an acronym for Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity. Which sounds a bit redundant, really, since if you’re subjugating humanityanyway, why waste time rooting out undesirables? Unless doing so is fun, of course.
And prep yourself for the almost-certain Danger Mouse-produced new version of the classic theme song, which you can check out in various iterations in the clip below. (Be great if there was reason to license one of the cover versions ofJerry Goldsmith’s version of the themeas performed byThe VenturesorMan…or Astro-Man?, right?)
