With the recent news that Tom Cruise would be dropping out of Guy Ritchie’s feature treatment of the 60s show The Man from U.N.C.L.E. in order to focus on Mission: Impossible 5, it looks like Henry Cavill (Man of Steel) might swoop in to save the day.  Warner Bros. is apparently flying high on Cavill with positive buzz surrounding their upcoming Superman movie and has entered into talks with the star for the studio’s action comedy.  Hit the jump for more.

In a rather unexpected development, director Guy Ritchie’s adaptation of the popular TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. has lost its leading man.  Tom Cruise was originally set to star in the Warner Bros. spy pic, which is being planned as a potential franchise-starter, but with a fall production start-date looming Cruise has now vacated the starring role in order to focus his efforts on getting Mission: Impossible 5 off the ground. The film had recently started filling out its cast with Armie Hammer signing on to co-star and Alicia Vikander (Anna Karenina) entering talks to play the film’s female lead, but Ritchie must now start searching to fill his leading role .  Hit the jump for more on the future of both U.N.C.L.E. and Mission: Impossible 5.

Here’s more of today’s casting news:

• Dominic Cooper (Captain America: The First Avenger) is in negotiations to join Luke Evans in Dracula, the Universal picture directed by Gary Shore.
• Alicia Vikander (Anna Karenina) is in talks for The Man from U.N.C.L.E., the Guy Ritchie-directed adaptation of the TV series that stars Tom Cruise and Armie Hammer.
• Pierce Brosnan (The Thomas Crown Affair), Jessica Alba (Sin City) and Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient) will star in How to Make Love Like an Englishman for director Tom Vaughan.

Hit the jump for more on each casting announcement.

When last we talked about Guy Ritchie’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E. adaptation, Tom Cruise was set to star as one half of the agents of the United Network Command for Law Enforcement.  It looks like Armie Hammer (The Social Network) will be playing the other half.  The original 1960s series starred Robert Vaughan and David McCallum as Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin, two agents who fought against the evil organization known as T.H.R.U.S.H. using only their wits and specialized weapons and gadgets.  It looks like Cruise will be playing Solo while Hammer takes on Kuryakin.  Hit the jump for more.

Reports have Tom Cruise in early talks to star in The Man from U.N.C.L.E., the Warner Bros. feature adaptation of the 1960s series.  The show starred Robert Vaughan and David McCallum as Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin, agents of the United Network Command for Law Enforcement who used gadgets and wits to fight against the evil organization known as T.H.R.U.S.H.  Guy Ritchie (Snatch) will direct from a Scott Z. Burns (The Bourne Ultimatum) script.  Hit the jump for more.

Opening this weekend is director Steven Soderbergh’s psychological thriller Side Effects.  Written by Scott Z. Burns (Contagion, The Informant!), the film is about “a successful New York couple (Rooney Mara and Channing Tatum) whose world unravels when a new drug prescribed by Emily’s psychiatrist (Jude Law)—intended to treat anxiety—has unexpected side effects.”  The film also stars Catherine Zeta-Jones.

At the recent Los Angeles press junket, I landed an exclusive interview with Burns.  We talked about his feelings regarding Soderbergh’s retirement, how he originally wanted to direct Side Effects himself, changes to the script during development, his writing process, and much more.  In addition, I got updates on rumors he might be writing the new Blade Runner, what happened to The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and what it was about, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, David Fincher’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and more.  Hit the jump to either read or watch the interview.

As we move closer towards the release of Side Effects, which could very well be the final theatrically released film from director Steven Soderbergh, many are looking back at the multitude of great features that the filmmaker has made over the past two decades.  One of the more fascinating projects that Soderbergh was attached that didn’t come to fruition was a feature film adaptation of the 1960s spy TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E..  The filmmaker was developing the project only just a couple of years ago, before ultimately bowing out in late 2011 over creative differences with Warner Bros.

Steve recently sat down with screenwriter Scott Z. Burns in anticipation of Soderbergh’s upcoming thriller Side Effects, and during the course of their conversation Burns talked about working with Soderbergh on The Man from U.N.C.L.E. In addition to talking about possible casting for the film, Burns went into quite a bit of detail with regards to the proposed plot of their take.  Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

Warner Bros. looks to have found their point man for The Man from U.N.C.L.E. The studio has been searching for a suitable replacement since director Steven Soderbergh left the long-in-development project over budget and casting disagreements, and now Sherlock Holmes director Guy Ritchie has signed on as producer with an eye to direct. Deadline reports that Ritchie and his Sherlock Holmes partner Lionel Wigram have signed on to produce the pic, with the intention of having Ritchie take the helm.

The film is based on the 1960s spy TV series and has a script by Scott Z. Burns (Contagion). There’s no word on whether Ritchie will want a new draft, but one assumes he’d like to tailor the project to his strengths. Production was set to begin this spring, but depending on how drastically Ritchie wants to change the project it may be a while before it goes in front of cameras. As for the lead role, Ritchie has gotten along famously with Robert Downey Jr. on the two Sherlock Holmes pics and the actor would certainly bring a great deal of fun to the role, so I’d be all for the two teaming up again on U.N.C.L.E. At this point though, there’s no new information regarding casting. Hopefully we’ll hear more soon.

Director Steven Soderbergh has exited the adaptation of the 1960s spy TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Soderbergh had been developing the project since 2010 with screenwriter Scott Z. Burns, but The Playlist is reporting that the Oscar-winning director and Warner Bros. couldn’t come to an agreement over casting and budget.  You’ll recall that back in August, George Clooney passed on the lead role and the casting process has been drawn out ever since.  Actors mentioned for the lead include Bradley Cooper, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ryan Gosling, Alexander Skarsgard, Joel Edgerton, and earlier this week we heard Channing Tatum was in the mix (i.e. the usual suspects of young actors who don’t care hefty price tags like Clooney or Matt Damon, who was also considered for the lead, but passed because it conflicted with production on his directing debut).

However, Warner Bros. only wanted to provide $60 million for the first in what was supposed to be a spy franchise for the studio, and Soderbergh reportedly felt that the number was too low, the casting process was taking too long, and he couldn’t put everything together for a March shooting date.  Hit the jump for more on the now-defunct movie.

Director Steven Soderbergh is having trouble finding his man for The Man from U.N.C.L.E. First star George Clooney bowed out over concerns that the stunts might aggravate his spinal injury. Then both Matt Damon and Johnny Depp passed. It looked as if he’d finally zeroed in on his lead as he offered the part to Bradley Cooper, but a deal never finalized there. Now Deadline reports that Soderbergh is eyeing Channing Tatum for the lead. It’s not incredibly out of left field, as Tatum recently starred in Soderbergh’s Magic Mike, based on Tatum’s days as a male stripper. An offer hasn’t been made yet, but if one does materialize I’d be surprised if Tatum passed.

Tatum isn’t a bad choice, as he’s proved himself to be an adequate actor in his own right. Judging by the 21 Jump Street trailer, he’s got some comedy chops as well. He’s currently in talks to play Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz in Bennett Miller’s drama Foxcatcher, and he’ll next be seen in Soderbergh’s Haywire which opens in January. Soderbergh plans to shoot The Man from U.N.C.L.E. next year before moving on to his Liberace biopic The Man Behind the Candelabra.

Back in August, George Clooney vacated the lead role in Steven Soderbergh’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E. over concerns that the stunt work would further agitate his injuries sustained while filming Syriana. Now it looks as though Soderbergh has settled on Clooney’s replacement. Variety reports that Bradley Cooper has been offered the starring role of Napoleon Solo and is expected to accept, as his agency team apparently put some concerted effort into positioning him for the role. The film is based on the 1960s spy series of the same name. Following Clooney’s departure, Soderbergh apparently offered the part to Matt Damon and Johnny Depp, but both actors passed. The plan is to start filming in March after Cooper wraps Alex Proyas’ Paradise Lost. Soderbergh will then move onto his Liberace pic Behind the Candelabra for HBO starring Damon and Michael Douglas.

Cooper has become quite a hot commodity as of late. He recently wrapped Derek Cianfrance’s The Place Beyond the Pines with Ryan Gosling, and he’s currently filming David O. Russell’s The Silver Linings Playbook. He was also lined up to star in The Crow remake, but subsequently dropped out. Hit the jump to watch the opening for The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Last month, we reported that George Clooney had dropped out of director Steven Soderbergh’s adaptation of the 1960s spy series The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. Prior to that, it was believed that Clooney would fill Robert Vaughn’s shoes as the character Napoleon Solo. Although we’re still unsure who Warner Bros. would like to take on that part, it does seem as if we have a better idea of who the studio would like to see fill another primary Man from U.N.C.L.E. role, that of Illya Kuryakin (played in the original by David McCallum). Apparently, Warner Bros. is looking for an actor in his 20s to play Illya, and at the top of their wish list? Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ryan Gosling and Alexander Skarsgård. More after the jump.

Last November, we reported that George Clooney was in talks to reunite with director Steven Soderbergh (Clooney’s Oceans films and Out of Sight) to star in his adaptation of the 1960′s spy series The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. Now, with the film set to begin lensing for Warner Bros. in February 2012, it appears that Clooney has left the project. News of the actor’s apparent departure comes courtesy of Deadline which seems confident in its report in spite of the fact that they can’t yet pin down a reason for his withdrawal.

It’s believed that Warner Bros. is still set on adhering to The Man from U.N.C.L.E.‘s February 2012 start date. That said, the “A-List” sized hole Clooney leaves behind will not be easily filled. Next up for Soderbergh is his thriller Contagion starring Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, and Marion Cotillard. That film opens on September 9th. Clooney can next be seen in his directorial effort The Ides of March and writer/director Alexander Paynes’s (Sideways) The Descendants which open on October 7th and November 23rd respectively.

Steven Soderbergh is retiring from filmmaking soon, and I will weep when he does.  But the director puts the move in the proper perspective:

“I’m still following my plan. I’ve been stupid about it, I should have kept my mouth shut, but at the same time, I don’t think there’s anything that unusual about it. By the time I finish with the series of projects I’m planning, it will be 26 or 27 films. That’s plenty and if you take volume over quality, I’m twice as good as Kubrick.”

Indeed, there are five more Soderbergh movies to come.  Contagion opens on October 21 and earlier today Relativity announced a January 12, 2012 release for Haywire.  In September, he’ll start work on Magic Mike, which casts Channing Tatum and Alex Pettyfer as male strippers (finally!).  The Man from U.N.C.L.E. starring frequent collaborator George Clooney is up next with a February 2012 start date.  The final project on Soderbergh’s to-do list is Liberace, led by Michael Douglas and Matt Damon.  More quotes from Soderbergh after the jump:

Steve recently conducted a long interview with producer John Davis.  Due to the length of the interview, Steve has broken it up into several parts.  Yesterday, we ran what Davis had to say about the Predator franchise.  Today, we have what Davis had to say about Steven Soderbergh’s planned adaptation of the 1960s spy series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. According to Davis, Soderbergh says it will be his last film before he retires.  The hope is to start shooting it sometime early next year.  And while George Clooney has been rumored to star, Davis only offered a non-committal, “That would be the best way to do it.”

Hit the jump for full quotes from Davis including what he found appealing about the TV series.