‘Man From U.N.C.L.E.’ Adds Hugh Grant to Cast

For his latest project, Hugh Grant has signed on to Guy Ritchie’s (Sherlock Holmes) newest spy film, Man From U.N.C.L.E. (Hollywood Reporter). After Grant’s recent films such as Did You Hear About The Morgans? and the animated The Pirates! Band of Misfits, the Warner Bros. flick will be a (marginally) more serious role for Grant, who will play the head of British Naval Intelligence.

The movie is a big-screen adaptation of a spy TV series from the 1960’s during the Cold War, about American Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) and Soviet Ilya Kullyakin (Armie Hammer), special agents for the United Network Command for Law Enforcement (U.N.C.L.E.), racing against time to find a missing hydrogen bomb in the hands of a B-52 bomber.

Henry Cavill, who played Clark Kent in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, signed on to replace Tom Cruise as the lead in the film in May, due to Cruise’s filming conflicts with Mission: Impossible 5. With a younger, newer star like Cavill stepping in to take the lead alongside up-and-coming Hammer (The Lone Ranger) – who’s only 26 himself – Warner Bros. is clearly hoping the film will appeal to a younger audience as well as adults who remember the original television show.

It’s unclear at the moment to what extent Grant’s character will be involved. Most likely, he’ll be playing  Alexander Waverly, the top Brit in U.N.C.L.E., who was a series regular on the ’60s show.