A new film adaptation of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is in development at 20th Century Studio. Created by famed comic book writer Alan Moore with art by Kevin O'Neill, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was a comic series that united various characters from classic literature on a super team in the late 19th century in a shared universe. The team has consisted of classic characters like Alan Quartermaine from King's Solomon's Mine, Mina Harker from Dracula, The Invisible Man, Captain Nemo from 20,00 Leagues Under the Sea, and Dr. Jeykll and Mr. Hyde, to name a few.
In 2003, the comic series was adapted into a feature film of the same name by Blade director Stephen Norrington and starred Sean Connery. The film was released on the same weekend as Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl and was a critical and box office disappointment, with many changes made from the source material, including the addition of the character Tom Sawyer making the film more appealing to American audiences. The film's production was such a nightmare that it convinced Connery to retire from acting and was his last live-action film, and the film's director and screenwriter, James Robinson, have not made a live-action film since the release of the movie.
However, the franchise will rise again as The Wrap is reporting a new film for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is in active development at 20th Century Studios. The film will be written by Justin Haythe, whose credits include Red Sparrow, The Lone Ranger, and A Curse for Wellness. The film will reportedly be more faithful to the comic series than the 2003 film.
Interestingly, the film is being produced by 20th Century Studios, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company. The first two volumes of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comic series were published by America's Best Comic, an imprint of Wildstorm comics that became part of DC Comics that Warner Bros. studios own. While it would appear that Warner Bros. should make the film, the series has never been wholly owned by DC Comics and has since been published by other publishers. 20th Century Studio still maintains the film rights due to producing the 2003 film, and they have been trying to develop a reboot of the series since 2015.
While it says The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is being developed as a film instead of a streaming series, it does not guarantee the movie will get a theatrical release. Aside from the Avatar franchise, Disney has mainly relegated much of the franchises they have inherited from 20th Century Studios to streaming releases like the upcoming Predator prequel Prey and Fede Álvarez's new Alien movie being Hulu originals. It seems likely that The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, should it happen, will be released on Hulu.
Source: The Wrap