Vaughn yells 'U.N.C.L.E'
Classic series to become tentpole pic for WB
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John Davis will produce with Warners-based producer Basil Iwanyk's Thunder Road Prods. Davis Entertainment bought the series' film rights from Ted Turner in 1993.
Turner optioned the rights from Felton; after the merger with Warner Bros studio exercised the option and so owns the rights.
Created in 1964, "Man From U.N.C.L.E." starred Robert Vaughn and David McCallum as superagents Napoleon Solo and Ilya Kuryakin, operatives for the United Network Command for Law & Enforcement. Show ran on NBC until 1968.
Pic is expected to be a big-budget action thriller centered on the TV show's premise, which pitted Solo and Kurayakin against international crime syndicate THRUSH.
The director grew up believing that he was the biological son of "Man From U.N.C.L.E." star Robert Vaughn. However, he later discovered that his father was George de Vere Drummond, a minor British aristocrat.
Exec VP production Lynn Harris is overseeing the pic for the studio. A screenwriter has not yet been hired.
Vaughn, longtime producing partner of Guy Ritchie, made his directorial debut for Sony with crime thriller "Layer Cake," which starred Daniel Craig, Michael Gambon and Sienna Miller. Pic will bow stateside next spring.
