| The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Guy Ritchie |
| Screenplay by |
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| Story by |
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| Based on | |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | John Mathieson |
| Edited by | James Herbert |
| Music by | Daniel Pemberton |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 116 minutes[1] |
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| Language | English |
| Budget | $75–84 million[2][3] |
| Box office | $110 million[4] |
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is a 2015spy film directed byGuy Ritchie and written by Ritchie andLionel Wigram. It is based on the 1964MGMtelevision series of the same name, which was created byNorman Felton andSam Rolfe. The film starsHenry Cavill,Armie Hammer,Alicia Vikander,Elizabeth Debicki, andHugh Grant. The film was produced byRatPac-Dune Entertainment andDavis Entertainment whileTurner Entertainment Co., the original TV series current holder, was also involved.
In 1993,John Davis obtained the rights for a film adaptation based on the original series. However, the film fell intodevelopment limbo due to multiple script rewrites. Over the years,Matthew Vaughn,David Dobkin, andSteven Soderbergh were optioned for directing until Ritchie signed on in March 2013.
The film premiered atBarcelona on August 2, 2015, and was released on August 14, 2015, byWarner Bros. It received mixed reviews from critics and was abox office bomb, grossing only $110 million worldwide on a $75 million budget.[5]Rolling Stone listed this movie 50th on the best action movies of all time.[6]
In 1963,CIA AgentNapoleon Solo extracts Gaby Teller, daughter of nuclear scientist Dr. Udo Teller, fromEast Berlin. She does not know him, as she was left to be raised by a mechanic almost two decades ago. Solo andKGB AgentIllya Kuryakin are ordered to team up and stop Alexander and Victoria Vinciguerra,Nazi sympathizers, from using Udo Teller to build their own privatenuclear weapon.
Unbeknownst to Solo, Kuryakin has been fully briefed on him. The former WWII soldier became a skilled high-profile thief, who was recruited by the CIA rather than face jail time. The KGB operative is told to not let Gaby escape, and to kill Solo if necessary.
The men travel toRome with Gaby, whose uncle Rudi works for the Vinciguerras. Kuryakin and Gaby pose as an engaged couple so that Kuryakin can access the Vinciguerras. Ordinary muggers take Kuryakin's father's watch, but he does not fight them in order to maintain his cover. Solo and Kuryakin break into a Vinciguerra shipping yard and find traces ofuranium. While escaping by water, Kuryakin nearly drowns, but Solo saves him.
The following day, Gaby meets with Rudi and Alexander and betrays Kuryakin and Solo to them. Ruditortures Solo, but Kuryakin rescues him and tortures Rudi. Rudi reveals the weapon is hidden in an island fortress where Gaby has been reunited with her father. Teller completes the weapon, and Victoria kills him.
Solo and Kuryakin are approached byAlexander Waverly, aMI6 officer who reveals Gaby is hisundercover officer. They infiltrate the Vinciguerras' compound. Solo finds Kuryakin's stolen watch on a guard. Alexander Vinciguerra attempts to escape with the warhead, but is intercepted and killed.
Solo retrieves the disc with Teller's research but realizes Alexander's warhead was a decoy—Victoria has left with the real warhead. He then distracts Victoria via radio while Waverly launches a homing missile, destroying the nuclear weapon and killing Victoria.
Kuryakin confronts Solo in his hotel room, and Solo returns the stolen watch. Kuryakin admits his assignment was to kill him and take the disc for his government. Solo replies that he knew this, and had the same orders. They instead burn the contents of the disc, to give neither side the upper hand in thearms race.
Reuniting with Gaby and Waverly, the trio have been reassigned to Waverly's international organization. Waverly gives them a new mission under a new codename:U.N.C.L.E.
ProducerJohn Davis optioned the film rights to the 1960s TV series in 1993, setting up a development deal for an adaptation withWarner Bros. and series producerNorman Felton. Davis has estimated that he commissioned 12 or 14 different scripts over the course of 20 years, with writersJim andJohn Thomas,John Requa,Glenn Ficarra, andScott Z. Burns.Quentin Tarantino was briefly attached following the success ofPulp Fiction, but opted to makeJackie Brown instead.The Man from U.N.C.L.E. continued to labor indevelopment hell with directorsMatthew Vaughn andDavid Dobkin.[7]Steven Soderbergh was attached to direct Scott Z. Burns' screenplay, with production slated to begin in March 2012. Executives from Warner Bros. wanted the budget to stay below $60 million, but Soderbergh felt that amount would not be adequate to fund the 1960s-era sets, props, and international settings required for the film.[8]Emily Blunt was nearly cast as the female lead,[9] but she left the project shortly after Soderbergh departed in November 2011.[10]
Guy Ritchie signed on in March 2013.[11] On July 31, 2013, it was announced that Ritchie's adaptation would start filming in September 2013 inLondon and Italy.[12][13] The final production budget was approximately $75 million US.
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In November 2010,George Clooney showed interest in the film,[14] and was in talks for the lead role ofNapoleon Solo, but he left in September 2011 due to a recurring back injury.[15][16] After Clooney's departure, actors includingJoseph Gordon-Levitt,Ryan Gosling,Channing Tatum,Alexander Skarsgård,Ewan McGregor,Robert Pattinson,Matt Damon,Christian Bale,Michael Fassbender,Bradley Cooper,Leonardo DiCaprio,Joel Kinnaman,Russell Crowe,Chris Pine,Ryan Reynolds, andJon Hamm were considered for the lead role.[17] On March 18, 2013,Tom Cruise was in early talks to take the lead in the film.[11]Armie Hammer was cast in the second lead role asIllya Kuryakin on April 24, 2013, with Cruise set as Solo.[18] Swedish actressAlicia Vikander joined the film on May 8, 2013, as the female lead.[19] On May 23, 2013, Cruise dropped out of the film, due to his commitment toMission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.[20][21] British actorHenry Cavill replaced Cruise.[22][23][24]Elizabeth Debicki was cast in afemme fatale role on July 31, 2013;Rose Byrne andCharlize Theron were earlier considered for the same part.[25] On August 8, 2013,Hugh Grant joined the cast as Alexander Waverly, the head of United Network Command for Law and Enforcement (U.N.C.L.E).[26]Jared Harris was cast as Sanders on September 4, 2013,[27] andLuca Calvani was cast as a villain, Alexander.[28]Simona Caparrini was also cast to play Contessa.[29]
Principal photography on the film commenced on September 9, 2013.[30] In October 2013, filming was being under way at theOld Royal Naval College in Greenwich, Royal Victoria Docks, London andGoodwood Motor Racing Circuit in West Sussex, UK.
Two locations stood in place for Berlin sites on either side of the wall: the public toilet fight between Solo and Kuryakin was shot inRegent's Park in London, while the car chase during the movie's first act was shot inChatham Historic Dockyard,Kent UK.[31][32][33]
DirectorGuy Ritchie finalized the script throughout production: "He's quite intuitive and tends to constantly rewrite stuff, which he does even when they're shooting. He'll rewrite things in the morning if they're shooting that day, working with the actors if something doesn't feel right." says long-term collaborator David Allcock.[34]
Themusical score forThe Man from U.N.C.L.E. was composed byDaniel Pemberton.[35] A soundtrack album was released byWaterTower Music on August 7, 2015.[36] A behind the scenes video was also released.[37] The musical score received many glowing reviews with the LA Times noting "it is composer Daniel Pemberton who in some ways seems to understand the idea of the movie even better than Ritchie, his score featuring breathy flutes, twangy guitar, spooky harpsichord and pounding drums and organ capturing the mixture of pastiche, homage and a twist of the new in a way the rest of the film rarely matches."[38]
The film was scheduled for a January 16, 2015 release,[39] but on August 12, 2014, Warner Bros moved the film's release date from January 16, 2015, to August 14, 2015.[40]
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 17, 2015, byWarner Bros. Home Entertainment.[41]
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. grossed $45.4 million in North America and $64.4 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $109.8 million, against a production budget of $75 million.[4]The Hollywood Reporter estimated the film lost the studio at least $80 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.[42]
The film grossed $900,000 from its early Thursday screenings and $4.8 million on its opening day. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $13.4 million, which was about $5 million below expectations, finishing third at the box office.[43] In its second weekend it dropped 45% to $7.3 million, finishing fifth.[44]
It opened in Russia with $3.1 million.[45] In the United Kingdom, it opened alongsideSony Pictures'Pixels, earning $2.3 million, debuting at number 4 for Friday-to-Sunday, whilePixels was at No. 1 with $4.2 million, including previews during the week. Warner Bros did not previewThe Man from U.N.C.L.E.[45] Across Asia, it generated $2.7 million from six countries and $1.7 million in Australia.[45]
OnRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 68% based on 295 reviews, with an average rating of 6.20/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Man from U.N.C.L.E. tries to distract from an unremarkable story with charismatic stars and fizzy set pieces, adding up to an uneven action thriller with just enough style to overcome its lack of substance."[41] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 56 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[46] OnCinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[3]
| Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
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| Golden Trailer Awards | Best Action | "Better Alone" | Nominated | [47] |
| Best Motion/Title Graphics | "Timeline" | Won | ||
| Best Graphics in a TV Spot | "That Kind of Review" | Won | ||
| San Diego Film Critics Society Awards | Body of Work | Alicia Vikander(also forBurnt,The Danish Girl andEx Machina) | Won |
In April 2017, it was reported that Wigram was working on the script for a sequel at the suggestion of Hammer. Cavill stated that he would be excited to return for the sequel.[48][49]
However, as of 2025, no sequel has been officially announced or entered production. In an interview with MovieWeb, Cavill stated that while he enjoyed working on the film, a sequel is unlikely. This is due to the original's modest box office performance and lack of studio movement.[50]
A 3D action game based on the film titledMission: Berlin was released oniOS andAndroid. It featured sneaking, shooting, and getting in and out of drivable vehicles in the style of open world games. The player can choose to play as Solo or Kuryakin. There was also a multiplayer death match. As of December 2018, the game has been removed from both marketplaces.[51]
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