Today's news that Steven Soderbergh is shaping up to tackle Warner Bros.' big-screen adaptation of **The Man From U.N.C.L.E has been followed like a sizzling fuse by word that George Clooney is in talks to fill Napoleon Solo's shoes.
According to Indiewire, Clooney is shaping up to rejoin his Ocean's director for what would be his seventh appearance in a Soderbergh movie. It's a collaboration that could launch another cash-cow franchise for Warners, or, if Soderbergh makes good on his plans to take early retirement, be their last. Let's hope not.
Meantime, this looks like a canny, if not wholly unexpected piece of casting. We know Clooney has the suaveness, charm and wry wit for the job. He also looks as sharp as anyone in a piece of '60s tailoring, an attribute not to be underestimated with Soderbergh's version set firmly in the Mad Men era.
But would he make a dynamic Napoleon? And who would be your pick for Illya Kuryakin? Let us know in the usual spot.