Guy Ritchie To Direct & Produce ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’

Deadline bring word that Guy Ritchie will be re-teaming with his ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’ producer, Lionel Wigram, for ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E..’ Based on the classic 1960′s TV show, the film has a script by Scott Z. Burns (Contagion, The Bourne Ultimatum). Steven Soderbergh was originally lined up to direct the film, however due to budget and casting difficulties (after George Clooney dropped out due to surgery), Soderbergh passed on the project. The intention is for Ritchie to direct the film.

Soderbergh has since set his sights on another Scott Z. Burns-scripted flick, ’The Bitter Pill,’ a thriller that Summit Entertainment will put into production next year, after this week closing a deal that calls for a green light commitment on the thriller. The original ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’ series starred Robert Vaughn as Napoleon Solo and David McCallum as Illya Kuryakin. They were agents of United Network Command for Law Enforcement (U.N.C.L.E.) who fight the forces of Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity (T.H.R.U.S.H.).