Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer
(Art by Paul Baack)
Armie Hammer is quoted by the /Film website as saying a sequel for the 2015 Man From U.N.C.L.E. movie is being written despite the film’s tepid box office.
According to the website, Hammer said he contacted Lionel Wigram, the co-producer and co-scripter of the 2015 movie.
“I was like, ‘Dude, what’s the deal? I get asked about this shit all the time. Can you just write a sequel?’” Hammer is quote as saying.
“He was like, ‘You know what? Yeah, fuck it, I’ll do it. Sure, I’ll write a sequel.’ I was like, ‘If you write one, I’m sure we can get one made,’ so who knows? Today is the first day I’ve actually told anyone that story.”
Two caveats: 1) Studios and production offices are littered with scripts that were never made into films. 2) Wigram, in this telling, doesn’t exactly sound like it’s his top priority.
The U.N.C.L.E. movie’s global box office was less than $110 million. During its opening weekend in the U.S., it came in No. 3, behind Straigh Outta Compton and Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation. The latter debuted two weeks earlier than U.N.C.L.E.
Wigram’s collaborator in writing the film was director Guy Ritchie. The duo’s latest project is King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, which has had three separate release dates but is currently scheduled to come out May 12. That movie also is being scored by Daniel Pemberton, who did the music for the U.N.C.L.E. film.
The 2015 project was an “origin” story and dispensed with familiar U.N.C.L.E. tropes such as a secret headquarters. It had Hammer as Illya Kuryakin and Henry Cavill as Napoleon Solo. Cavill currently is working on Mission: Impossible 6.
UPDATE (April 17): The Collider website also chatted with Armie Hammer. That story had slightly different quotes from the actor. “I actually recently talked to Lionel Wigram… and I was like, ‘Dude if you don’t start writing this script I’m gonna show up at your house and cut all of the tires of all of your cars, I swear to God.’”
So, in this telling, Wigram replied (according to Hammer), “You know what? Fuck it. I’m just gonna do it, I’ll probably start writing it.”
Filed under: The Other Spies | Tagged: A movie version of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.?, Armie Hammer, Daniel Pemberton, Guy Ritchie, Henry Cavill, Lionel Wigram, The Man From U.N.C.L.E |
The Spy Command 
Here’s a thought. Why don’t they (writer/producer) invite fan’s to make suggestions?! New fans: what they liked about the UNCLE movie and what they’d like to see. Original fans: what they liked about the original series and how a movie could do those thoughts justice. [Original fans have been following for 50 years. They know it inside, out].
We saw this stuff happen with Star Trek movies. The first movie was awful compared to the series. It was totally too self-consciously produced. To aware of itself. So ….it took time, to fine tune the subsequent movies. To do that, they looked over the best ST episodes and took keys from them (including villains, plots). But they were successful ONLY because the major stars also had input. THEY knew what the fans wanted. And the fans made it clear. I would say the MOST important thing is chemistry and character relationships. Those characters have to be authentic. Because you want to make the fans want to care about the characters. Then put them in a compelling plot. And the rest will follow.
But sort it all out NOW before too much time is invested and money spent. Get that feedback first.
Signed: Original Fan.
Ah, Pacific Sun, you give Hollywood too much credit for being rational and creative. Very little coming from the studios in the last few years has been original or entertaining. Another animated movie, another superhero flick, another remake of an old animated or superhero flick . . . It amazed me that the film was so good. It’ll amaze me more if a sequel gets made and is 75% as good.
Following The Spy Command (focusing on Bond) has demonstrated to me the incredible tenacity of working through production issues. Infinitesimally so. But mainly the incredible patience of Fans. Good things, rewarding things, are always worth waiting for. And if Fans could wait 50 years for a return of the MFU to the screen … then everything else is relative! In fact, now that the rebooted characters are known, provides a great opportunity for expanding their world. I see possibilities!