The Victorian age of heroes will soon stage their comeback against the modern backdrop of superhero works, as 20th Century Studios and Hulu have announced a reboot of the 2003 film League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
The project is set to take after the acclaimed comic book franchise by creator Alan Moore and artist Kevin O’ Neil, with a focus to return to its core comic book roots. Justin Haythe, whose credentials include writer for The Lone Ranger and executive producer for Bohemian Rhapsody, has been tapped to pen the screenplay. The man will be joined by Don Murphy, producer of the original movie, Real Steel producer Susan Montford, and Erwin Stoff (47 Ronin, Edge of Tomorrow).
Influenced from popular literary works like Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen follows a group of fictional literary characters who act as Victorian era superheroes. The initial concept featured Dracula‘s Mina Murray, Allan Quatermain from H. Rider Haggard’s King Solomon’s Mines, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea‘s Captain Nemo, Dr. Jekyll from Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and the Invisible Man, titular character of HG Wells’ novel of the same name. These characters would later band together to face off against Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu, Sherlock Holmes’ Professor Moriarty, and aliens from Wells’ War of the Worlds.
The first volume proceeded to win the Bram Stoker Award for best illustrated narrative, while the second snagged an Eisner Award for best limited series. The last storyline ended in 2019 after a series of follow-up volumes and graphic novels.
The adaptation movie was known for taking creative liberties with the source material, and saw the addition of Tom Sawyer as a U.S Secret Service agent. Despite its troubled production, it still proved to be a box office hit, grossing over US$179 million worldwide. It would also later become Sean Connery’s last acting gig before his retirement.
No release date or casting details have been announced for the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen reboot.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
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