Tom Cruise May Very Well Be the Man from UNCLE in the Movie of the Classic TV Show

I nerd out over a lot of spy shows from the 60s. And then I really nerd out when Hollywood finally gets around to making the movie version...which ultimately leaves me seriously disappointed and confused (I Spy, Wild Wild West, Get Smart, The Avengers, that God awful AMC The Prisoner mini-series), which is why when I had at least heard that George Clooney had lined up to play Napoleon Solo in a Steven Soderbergh film version of The Man from U.N.C.L.E., I thought someone must've put together a solid script for the Cloonster to sign aboard. But then that fell through and it felt like the project was dead.

Until the man who helped bring one of the only seriously good movie adaptations of a 60s spy show to life with Mission: Impossible may very well be starring in the film directed by Guy Ritchie. Apparently Tom Cruise is in early talks to take on the role created by Robert Vaughan as a master spy who, with his partner Illya Kuryakin, must take on the evil forces of T.H.R.U.S.H. 

If the series feels ultimately similar to James Bond and his quest to fight S.P.E.C.T.R.E., that's probably because both were originally created by Ian Fleming. Fleming's involvement in the show (which was originally going to be called Ian Fleming's Solo) eventually lessened and he died just before the show's premiere.

Cruise has a lot of projects lined up at the moment and is notorious for helping to develop projects he's 'attached' to before ultimately bowing out (though he probably made the right call with The Tourist), but I'm definitely on board a Man from U.N.C.L.E. movie starring Tom Cruise. I just hope it doesn't push back filming of Mission: Impossible 5. And how much do you want to bet that his partner goes from being a reformed Russian spy, to a reformed Arab one?

Do you think a Man from U.N.C.L.E. is a good idea? Check out our gallery of best and worst TV-to-Film adaptations to see how poorly or how great they can turn out.