You may have long blocked it from your memory – and thus we apologise from reminding you! – but the 2003 adaptation of Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s celebrated graphic novel The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was an utter disaster, one that effectively sent star Sean Connery into retirement.
But for those who wept at the sight of their beloved comic source material being trampled all over might be in for a bit of luck as it’s just been announced that 20th Century Fox is planning to have another stab at it.
Deadline reports the plans for a new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie, which is said to have absolutely no ties with the 2003 film (thank god!) – which was a critical dud and only grossed a lukewarm $179 million all in – but instead be a completely new adaptation of the source. The news follows the ill-fated TV series adaptation from a couple of years ago, the pilot of which was flat out rejected by the network.
The graphic novel is a rich basis for a big franchise, with plenty of iconic characters to make badass on the big-screen. The story is set in an alternate late 19th/early 20th century Victorian London and features characters such as adventurer Allan Quatermain, Nina Harker, The Invisible Man, Captain Nemo, and Doctor Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, all hired to protect threats to the realm, including the likes of Professor Moriarty and even Fu Manchu.
Ira Napoliello and Matt Reilly are overseeing the project, with John Davis producing through his David Entertainment. There’s no word on anything like casting or even a writer/director but whoever they get, surely the film can’t be any worse than the last time!