{TB EXCLUSIVE} Fox Enters Development on “The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen” Reboot

 EXCLUSIVE
  〉The victorian-era action comic by Alan Moore is eyeing the big screen once again.

Perhaps, the third times a charm for THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN. After a lackluster feature film in 2003, and a failed attempt to kick of f a TV series in 2013, 20th Century Fox and Davis Entertainment have decided to go back to the source, planning to reboot a potential franchise based on Alan Moore’s comic book series.

The critically and commercially successful comic book series follows Mina Murray, who is recruited by Campion Bond to assemble a league of other extraordinary individuals to protect the interests of the Empire. Captain Nemo, Allan Quatermain, Dr. Jekyll and Hawley Griffin, the Invisible Man team up with Murray to form an off-color group of outcasts that use their powers and skills to save the world from destruction. The award-winning series ran fifteen issues and two graphic novels. 

While previously adapted for the big screen in 2003 (though straying wildly from the origin material), the comic was most recently being developed as a television series with Fox in 2013.  Green Lantern producer Michael Green was attached as the showrunner, with Erwin Stoff set as executive producer. Although Fox had even committed to a pilot in the original order, the project never made it to the casting process. Perhaps the failure of NBC’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde drama Do No Harm in 2012 changed the studio’s plans. Moore, the creator of the comic had an early negative response to the announcement of the series, with a sour taste in his mouth from the film adaptation starring Sean Connery. James Robinson adapted the comic, with Stephen Norrington directing. Critically, the film was seen as an out of touch and lazy, dramatically taking liberties beyond the much loved source material. Even with the critical and audience panning, the film would still keep itself out of “flop” territory as it still grossed $173 Million off of a $78 Million budget. With public interest in the comic series and the characters, Fox is now giving the material another go in the feature film medium.

Moore is no stranger to having his works developed for the big screen. Aside from League, Moore has written two of the world’s most critically acclaimed graphic novels in Watchmen and V For Vendetta, which have both been adapted into features. Fox is looking to nail the new adaptation of League, and is currently looking for a director to continue to develop the reboot.  While the reboot details are minimal at this time, and the exact storyline they’ll be tracking in hopes of launching a franchise are undetermined, we expect to hear a lot more about this over the next few weeks.

John Davis is producing through his Davis Entertainment, with Ira Napoliello and Matt Reilly overseeing the project.

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Lou Chase | Staff Writer