League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Returning to the Big Screen

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Everybody loves The League of Extraordinary Gentleman…the comic books. The movie? Not so much. But that isn’t stopping 20th Century Fox having another crack at the literary-themed graphic novel by comics’ genius curmudgeon Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neil.

Spectacularly failing to meet expectations (Sean Connery! A well-regarded literary property! An all-star cast!) the film was roundly, and rightly, panned by critics; limping to a $66 million domestic box office ($179 million worldwide).

It wasn’t too much of a shock that it plunged to depths that only the Nautilus could reach – the 1999 graphic novel series – a sort of Justice League for old-timey heroes such as Allan Quatermain, Mina Murray, the Invisible Man, Captain Nemo, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – is a riot on the page but translated to the screen and sheered of all subtle characterisation, the 2003 film, mired in messy plotting, scarcely resembles the source material.

Was it a fool’s errand or a case of studio interference? Well, it’s a tough nut to crack, Fox even tried a TV Series (perhaps a more natural fit for the nebulous adventure) with Green Lantern scribe Michael Green as showrunner but nothing came of it.

Here’s hoping that such a fantastic idea finds the right people to bring Alan Moore’s vision to life.

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