Original subtitles

It's hard for a director to get away from what he feels comfortable doing.

I could have ended up just making films about Cockneys in London.

I suppose Sherlock was a deliberate experiment to see if you could get out.

After Sherlock Holmes, Warner Bros. came to us with a bunch of projects.

He replaced the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with a 1960s hit.

"The Man from U.N.C.L.E." was written by another master, Ian Fleming.

I remembered the series reruns in the UK, and I remember loving them.

The story took place several years after the Cuban Missile Crisis.

It told of the founding of U.N.C.L.E., something the TV show never developed.

This allowed the screenwriters creative freedom to invent a new plot.

What we were trying to do was just capture the tone of the original.

I made sure I didn't go back to the source material, just what I remembered.

Warner Bros. had been trying to launch a remake for more than ten years.

Guy and Lionel presented their vision at a time of strained US-Russia relations.

An American and a Russian at the height of the Cold War felt like a great story.

With no hesitation, they were given a budget of 75 million.

By March 2013, they started working on their third consecutive project.

The casting process was marked by confusion when choosing actors.

While still writing, Guy imagined the role of Solo played by Tom Cruise.

Cruise was intrigued, but there were issues with Mission Impossible.

Henry Cavill, known as Superman, came in as the Russian initially.

But the role of Illya Kuryakin was taken by Armie Hammer.

It was important that the Russian was blond, and Henry is dark.

Armie looked better as a blond. Henry looked silly when we put wigs on him.

So when it fell apart with Tom, Henry slid into that position nicely.

Henry agreed to be in the film on one condition: no nudity on camera.

After several films requiring it, Ritchie agreed to his request.

A deal was struck. Since then, Solo has been their most successful agent.

Alicia Vikander concluded the search when she landed the role of Gaby.

The project was then joined by Elizabeth Debicki as Victoria.

She amazed Ritchie in "The Great Gatsby" and reminded him of Catherine Deneuve.

"Vinciguerra" in Italian literally means "win war."

The main obstacle in character development was the accents.

Henry was an Englishman playing an American. Armie was the opposite.

Alicia was a Swede playing a German. Elizabeth was an Aussie playing a Brit.

In August, the ensemble was joined by Hugh Grant, who wanted to work with Guy.

Grant noted that it was the first time he had been in a cool film.

The idea was that if this worked, Hugh would have a much larger part.

The last roles filled were Luca Calvani and Jared Harris as Saunders.

Harris received his invitation just weeks before filming started.

Similarities to "A Game of Shadows" extended to identical scenes.

A trio made of two incompatible men and a beautiful, mysterious woman.

The dynamics referenced Guy's favorite films, like "Butch Cassidy."

Illya's costume imitates Magneto's from "X-Men: First Class."

The walk taken by Illya and Gaby was shot in the same spot as "Roman Holiday."

And "La Dolce Vita" inspired the scenes which took place in Italy.

We were inspired by the most glamorous aspect of the 1960s.

The chase scene on the island was a nod to "The Great Escape."

The designers even used the exact same replica of the motorcycle.

During the bike scenes, Armie Hammer did not use stunt doubles.

Competition between Henry and Armie was not limited to their characters.

They were constantly competing and tried to do all their own stunts.

Even for a tablecloth trick, Cavill took lessons from an illusionist.

Their love for danger almost led to a tragic incident.

The boat chase scene ended with the saving of Kuryakin underwater.

To stay on the floor, Armie would insert his foot into a special weight.

Armie was supposed to release his ankle and swim up, but it failed.

Superman couldn't pull both his partner and the weight to the surface.

Thankfully, scuba divers at the ready helped him get to the surface.

Guy was constantly rewriting the script almost every single morning.

You'll be surprised about the props on location that inform a scene.

We ran all these scenes in his living room for weeks before the set.

There was a lot of freedom, so we end up working on the script a lot.

A nod to John Mathieson, who was brought in by gaffer Chuck Finch.

Finch had worked with Ritchie on the "Holmes" films previously.

Something special about Guy's directing is how he trusts the cinematographer.

He prefers to stay out of their work, focusing on the actors and editing.

The costume designers especially stand out in this project.

Joanna Johnston became famous working with Spielberg and Zemeckis.

Her presence was a guarantee that the wardrobe would be high class.

The aesthetic of the 1960s was very important to us.

The clothes became an actor, if you will, within the film.

The suits for Napoleon Solo were sewn by Timothy Everest.

Everest had been sewing suits for Bond and Mission Impossible for 20 years.

Guy insisted on an original take with minimal use of CGI.

The challenge in these movies is coming up with action that feels fresh.

Cars on roofs and rails in building walls were just the tip of the iceberg.

The chase scene was probably the hardest thing to film in the director's career.

In the script, it was described as a "ballet of cars."

The special effects department made that metaphor come to life.

The second most difficult scene was the escape from the secret factory.

Everything from jumping without doubles to a truck landing on a boat.

They drive a car at high speeds towards a lake and literally aquaplane across.

Special tires were added, and I think that's a movie first.

When you see that car, it is actually hovering across that lake.

The last scene of the chase was filmed in three countries and four locations.

Then there are the spy gadgets, borrowed from KGB and CIA museums.

There was a new gadget in every Bond, shrinking as technology improved.

"Super-hardened boron sharpened with a CO2 laser."

They renovated 60s era cars, which are usually gorgeous trophies today.

You want something that looks like it's actually been used at the time.

Illya Kuryakin never calls Napoleon Solo by his name, only "Cowboy."

Viewers thought the car segment was CGI, but there were rails in the wall.

They built a roller coaster rig which allowed the car to be suspended.

The soundtrack was considered to be the crowning glory of the film.

Shooting ended in early 2014. Post-production lasted over three months.

Guy had the idea to transform a 5-minute raid into a 1-minute supercut.

We've seen too many raids on castles. I'll lean on the side of using scissors.

In all those little vignettes, we crammed in as much information as we could.

The premiere was set for January 2015, but was pushed to August.

It opened a week after Mission Impossible and two months before Spectre.

Combined with harsh critiques, the spy comedy was practically buried alive.

It made 100 million at the box office and had no hope of a sequel.

However, the first potential scenes for one are shown in the credits.

"Absolutely hated working with you, Peril." "You're a terrible spy, Cowboy."