The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

The project sat on a shelf for two decades: John Davis took the rights in 1993 and commissioned twelve to fourteen scripts. Steven Soderbergh left in late 2011 when Warner Bros. capped the budget under sixty million dollars, too little in his view for period sets and overseas shooting. Tom Cruise signed as Solo, then left in May 2013 for Mission: Impossible and Henry Cavill took over. The name predates Ritchie. Ian Fleming proposed Napoleon Solo and April Dancer when the NBC series was assembled in 1964, and it was to air as Ian Fleming’s Solo until lawyers for Bond producers Saltzman and Broccoli objected; the settlement kept Solo, changed the title. The sixties on screen are largely manufactured: roughly twelve kilometres of Berlin street and over sixty buildings built in the computer, live action shot in London and Italy. The truck driven onto the boat in Rome was practical. The signature move pushes action into the background. Solo goes overboard, finds refuge in a truck with wine and a sandwich while Kuryakin drives a burning speedboat behind. James Herbert also cuts geometric split screens, moving panels resolving into one image as in The Thomas Crown Affair. A good fit if that trade appeals. Not for anyone who reads a wine break mid rescue as a refusal of tension.