Harris Joins "U.N.C.L.E" As Official Film Synopsis Released

Warner Bros has announced that Jared Harris ("Mad Men," "Fringe," "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows") has joined the long planned film adaptation of the 1960s spy TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E.".

The original 60's U.N.C.L.E series saw Robert Vaughn and David McCallum as two agents of the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement (U.N.C.L.E.), who fought the forces of Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity (T.H.R.U.S.H.).

The film follows special agents Napoleon Solo  (Henry Cavill) and Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer), who work for the mysterious agency.

Harris plays the role of Sanders, though no other details were made available about the role

Alicia Vikander will play a British agent who has a thing for cars. The character did not appear in the TV series Elizabeth Debicki (The Great Gatsby) will play a femme fatale. Hugh Grant will play the head of British Naval Intelligence in the film.

Warners has also released a new synopsis for the film, confirming that the film will retain the 60's Cold War setting of the original TV series:

Set against the backdrop of the early 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. focuses on Central Intelligence Agency operative Solo (Cavill) and KGB agent Kuryakin (Hammer). Forced to put aside longstanding hostilities, the two team up on a joint mission to stop a mysterious international criminal organization, which is bent on destabilizing the fragile balance of power through the proliferation of nuclear weapons and technology. The duo's only lead is the daughter of a vanished German scientist, who is the key to infiltrating the criminal organization, and they must race against time to find him and prevent a worldwide catastrophe.

The project has had quite a history...

Director Steven Soderbergh left the film in 2011 due to budgetary and casting issues--The studio set a low $60 million dollar budget proposal for what is supposed to be the first in a franchise trilogy,

Soderbergh felt the figure wasn’t enough for a ‘60s set period spy film that’s set on four continents, and with a March date looming, he could no longer wait for the studio to refine numbers.

Soderbergh went on to direct the thriller, Side Effects.

After Soderbergh left Guy Ritchie took over the directing duties and brought on his production partner Lionel Wigram. The pair have worked together on both Sherlock Holmes films.

Casting has always been a concern; Channing Tatum was in the mix---Once minted Sexiest Man Bradley Cooper was in talks for this but he left the table--Ryan Gosling, Alexander Skarsgård, Joseph Gordon-Levitt Robert Pattinson Leonardo DiCaprio Ryan Reynolds were on the list at one point once George Clooney was gonna play the role but left the pic after injuring his back. Once that happened the wanted younger (read CHEAPER) actors in the leads before Tom Cruise came on board and things stabilized. Soon after that though Cruise left the project in favor of doing Paramount Pictures's Mission: Impossible 5

Ritchie and Wigram co wrote the latest script and both will produce the film with John Davis.

Filming begins next week in England, Rome, and Naples.