Tom Cruise is in early talks to star in Warner Bros.’ long-in-development big-screen take on Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Hollywood Reporter said.

U.N.C.L.E., created in the 1960s during the Cold War, featured the spy adventures of American agent Napoleon Solo and Soviet agent Illya Kuryakin.

As recently as 2011, Steven Soderbergh was hoping to team up with George Clooney on the project, but when Clooney passed, and the studio considered actors such as Channing Tatum, Bradley Cooper, Ryan Gosling, Joel Kinnaman and Michael Fassbender.

Guy Ritchie and his producing partner Lionel Wigram came on in December 2011, but they too had trouble finding their Solo and Kuryakin. Late last year the studio had offers out to Ben Affleck and Matt Damon to play the duo, offers that did not pan out.

Cruise just wrapped the sci-fi action movie All You Need Is Kill for Warners, on which the studio is high. Sources have said that if the Cruise casting doesn't gel, Ritchie would be forced to move on to a new movie project.