Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer
(Art by Paul Baack)
We have no idea how The Man From U.N.C.L.E. movie will turn out. But we know this much: Don’t expect a movie version of the original 1964-68 television series.
Movie makers want to put their own spin on things. It happened with the 1999 Wild Wild West movie. It happened with the 1993 The Fugitive movie. It happens with the Mission: Impossible movies that began in 1996 (which made Jim Phelps a villain before killing him off) and whose fifth installment is in production.
The U.N.C.L.E. movie has thrown a few bones out. Or, to use a popular term, “Easter eggs” — little items for hard-core fans. The name of the film’s villain is the same as a villain in the television series. But that’s superficial. They’re different characters. The clapperboards of the movie used the same font as the main titles of the television show. But, when push comes to shove, Warner Bros. during test screenings of the movie, made sure than older fans wouldn’t be admitted to those showings.
At this point, there’s no way to know whether the Jerry Goldsmith theme music for the series will even be used in Daniel Pemberton’s score. Then again, Wild Wild West in 1999 included Richard Markowitz’s theme from the 1965-69 television series (though not in the film’s main titles). That didn’t make the movie — which many fans thought too goofy — any more like the show.
All of this doesn’t mean the movie, due for release in August 2015, won’t be good. It may be. But there’s enough circumstantial evidence to suggest it will be a completely different take than that of executive producer Norman Felton and developer-producer Sam Rolfe as well as stars Robert Vaughn and David McCallum. Henry Cavill, who plays Napoleon Solo, the role that Vaughn made famous, has already said he never saw an episode.
Filed under: The Other Spies | Tagged: A movie version of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.?, Armie Hammer, David McCallum, Henry Cavill, Norman Felton, Robert Vaughn, Sam Rolfe, The Man From U.N.C.L.E, The Other Spies | 3 Comments »
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