It's been a busy day for Joel Edgerton, what with him being mentioned as a possibility to star in Noam Murro's 300: Battle of Artemisia. Now the Aussie actor is up to star in another major franchise film, although this one is infinitely more promising, as it'll give him a chance to work with Steven Soderbergh.
Vulture says Edgerton has been offered a starring role as Russian agent Illya Kuryakin in Soderbergh's take on the 1960s TV show, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Bradley Cooper was recently offered the other lead, that of American spy Napoleon Solo, a role which George Clooney had to abandon due to lingering back problems.
So what does a guy do? The story says Edgerton will probably only be able to do one film, so he has to choose between 300 or this. Hmmmm...Noam Murro? Or Steven Soderbergh? It seems like an easy choice, right? Well, 300 would probably be the bigger box office hit, which means Edgerton could get the same sort of bump that Gerard Butler got. But U.N.C.L.E. would be more of a prestige flick, which gives him a chance to add names like Soderbergh and writer Scott Z. Burns(Contagion) to his resume. Personally I hope he chooses to work with Soderbergh, but we'll see.
