KATCHING MY I: Henry Cavill looks suave in first look at Guy Ritchie's The Man From U.N.C.L.E. alongside Armie Hammer and Alicia Vikander

Tuesday 23 December 2014

Henry Cavill looks suave in first look at Guy Ritchie's The Man From U.N.C.L.E. alongside Armie Hammer and Alicia Vikander

PUBLISHED: 23:27, 22 December 2014 | UPDATED: 09:06, 23 December 2014

A first look at Guy Ritchie's big screen adaptation of ’60s TV series The Man From U.N.C.L.E paints the picture of sixties sophistication, with just a tinge of violence.

Characters Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill), Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) and Gaby Teller (Alicia Vikander) are seen relaxing with a drink against a back drop of picturesque Italy.

Though the super spies are looking slightly scathed with cuts and bruises as they try to hide their undercover alter egos.

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Super spies: Gaby Teller (Alicia Vikander, left) Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) and Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill, right) pose for the first official image of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Warner Bros. released the first official image on Monday, which shows Superman actor Henry leading the way on the glossy front.

The Brit hunk leans against a railing with a whisky glass in hand, clad in a debonair light blue waistcoat and tailored trousers.

He shows a bump to the head while his sweet sixties counterpart Alicia fails to cover the scars on her upper arm with a white mini dress.

The beauty swings her brunette locks over one shoulder and dons a pair of of-the-moment round shades to shield her from the Italian sunlight.

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The film, set at the height of the Cold War, centres on CIA agent Solo and KGB agent Kuryakin who are forced to put aside their longstanding hostilities and take on a joint mission to stop a mysterious international criminal organization from destabilising the fragile balance of power.

The duo’s only lead is the daughter of a vanished German scientist, who is the key to infiltrating the criminal organisation, and they must race against time to find him and prevent a worldwide catastrophe.

Cavill was pictured recording scenes for the eagerly-anticipated movie back in October 2013, though it's only now that the pieces for the TV series remake are coming together.

Starring alongside Armie and fellow British actor Hugh Grant, Cavill looked confident and assured on set in the role - which has been described as a high-point of his career to date.

Tom Cruise was originally attached to Cavill's part, but walked away so he could focus on the fifth installment of the Mission Impossible franchise.

George Clooney was also thought to be in line to play the lead in a version that was to be directed by his long-time collaborator Steven Soderbergh, but a 2011 back injury was blamed for the Oceans 11 star's reluctance to take on such an action-packed role.

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Soderbergh then considered the likes of Channing Tatum, Bradley Cooper, Ryan Gosling, Michael Fassbender, and Joel Kinnaman, star of US TV series The Killing, for his leading man before abandoning the project.

Warner Bros assigned Guy Ritchie instead with Cavill cast on the back of his hugely successful revival of Superman in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel.

With Hammer alongside him, star of another summer 2013 blockbuster The Lone Ranger, the film looks set to cement the two actors’ rising star power when it hits cinemas next year.

Also dressed in a sharp suit, Hugh Grant joined the set - and could be seen filming his introductory scenes with the handsome pair.

But it is Cavill who is being billed as the heartthrob of the project. With his brown hair parted in a classic side-parting, some observers likened his appearance to that of Don Draper in the hit US TV series Mad Men.

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