There’s a pattern starting to form in Armie Hammer’s career. After starring opposite Johnny Depp in the high risk, big budget remake of “The Lone Ranger”, Hammer is apparently keen to work on another project with the same Big Movie Star/Iffy Two-Hander Remake combo, and Deadline reports he’s found it in Guy Ritchie’s “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.”, which will see Hammer paired up with Tom Cruise.
This is the 1960s buddy cop comedy style spy series that Warner Bros has been trying to put together for some time. At one point it looked like Bradley Cooper might be in it or maybe Joel Edgerton but neither of those panned out and then-director Steven Soderbergh walked away. Enter Ritchie, and then Cruise, whose still potent box office prowess guaranteed this movie will be made after all. Cruise is taking the Napoleon Solo role, with Hammer in line for his sidekick Illya Kuryakin. The two work for United Network Command for Law Enforcement (or U.N.C.L.E.) and use their charm, wit and advanced spy technology on missions.
Hammer has been on our radar since his breakout performance in David Fincher’s 2010 masterpiece “The Social Network”, in which he played twins, but his follow-up career hasn’t seemed to live up to his potential. A Prince role in the other Snow White movie “Mirror Mirror” turned out to be a dud, and aside from “The Lone Ranger” – we’ll see how that turns out on July 3rd – he’s attached to a string of indies that seem to have no momentum, among them “By Virtue Fall” with Eric Bana and “Cut Bank” with Teresa Palmer.
Tags : armie hammer, casting, guy ritchie, the lone ranger, the man from u.n.c.l.e., the social network, tom cruise