It won’t be unfair to suggest that there has been a real dearth of quality spy films in the 21st century outside of the James Bond films, but there is one movie that has certainly stood the test of time.
Guy Ritchie’s spy drama, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., is finally on Netflix, offering viewers a chance to experience what they missed out on in theaters in 2015. Starring Henry Cavill and the now disgraced Armie Hammer, the movie is based on the 1964 MGM series of the same name, which was created by Norman Felton and Sam Rolfe.
Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer are joined by an international cast comprising of Alicia Vikander (Irma Vep), Elizabeth Debicki (The Crown), Sylvester Groth (Dark), and Christian Berkel (Inglorious Bastards), with Jared Harris (Chernobyl) and Hugh Grant (Notting Hill) appearing in minor roles. While the movie didn’t get the love it deserved on the box office, making only $107 million against its budget of $75-84 million (reportedly), it has attained cult status over the years.
In 2017, it was reported that Lionel Wigram, the co-writer of the film, was working on a sequel at Hammer’s suggestion, with Cavill’s seal of approval to return in his role of Napoleon Solo. However, the talks fizzled out, and there hasn’t been any real update since then. Hammer getting entangled in a variety of controversies over time and the movie’s underwhelming commercial performance also remain contributing factors, as do Ritchie’s and Cavill’s extremely tight schedules.
It’s a miracle that the project could come to fruition in the first place after being put in development limbo for several years, as a multitude of directors and actors walked out before the studio settled with the aforementioned roster. Now that this underrated gem is available to stream on a platform that provides the scope for it to enter mainstream discussion again, talks of a followup to the original can probably resume again.
Published: Jul 27, 2024 01:58 pm