Random 'League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen' Behind-The-Scenes Stories (14 items)

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  (#11) The Weather Took A Toll On Sean Connery, Who Lost Many Of His Possessions

  Sean Connery may have paid the largest price as a direct result of the storms, at least for any one individual - though he didn't lose $7 million worth of stuff like the production as a whole, he did lose a lot of things. When Connery was forced to evacuate his Prague hotel because of flooding, the only possession he could carry out with him was his set of golf clubs. He literally lost everything else he had brought with him for the extended stay in the Czech Republic.

  "Oh, yes, it’s been difficult,” Connery told Entertainment Weekly at the time. "Very, very difficult. There’s no question about it.”
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  (#3) Stephen Norrington May Have Even Told Sean Connery To Punch Him

  There were a lot of different stories coming out of the set, often contradictory ones about the exact way things went down between Sean Connery and Stephen Norrington. An anonymous crew worker said Norrington provoked Connery, allegedly saying, “I'm sick of it! Come on, I want you to punch me in the face.”

  Connery recalls Norrington simply asking, “Do you want to hit me?” to which he responded, “Don’t tempt me.” There did seem to be some agreement that Connery threatened to have Norrington fired. In the end, it's remarkable they finished the movie together at all.
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  (#9) Sean Connery Quit Acting As A Direct Result Of The Film

  “It was a nightmare,” said Sean Connery of his experience with LXG in a 2006 interview with British newspaper The Times. “The experience had a great influence on me, it made me think about showbiz. I get fed up dealing with idiots.” That was essentially when Connery announced his retirement, yet he'd already apparently made that decision as he'd only appeared in two small, non-film roles since LXG. As of 2019, he's only had one additional credit to his name: the universally panned Sir Billi.

  "I'm fed up with the idiots..." he reiterated to the New Zealand Herald, "the ever-widening gap between people who know how to make movies and the people who greenlight the movies." He now spends his time golfing, so don't worry too much about him.
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  (#14) Fox Announced In 2015 They Were Making A Film Reboot, Which Remains A Possibility

  First announced in 2015, the last report detailing the status of a The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen reboot dates back to 2016, which does not bode well for it actually happening anytime soon. Yet the fact remains that one was in the works. Syfy reported on it at the time, relaying Fox's announcement:

  John Davis is on board to produce through his Davis Entertainment banner. Jayson Rothwell (Silent Night) has been hired to write The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Ira Napoliello and Matt Reilly are overseeing the remake, based on Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s graphic novel of the same name, centering on Victorian-era literary characters such as Captain Nemo, the Invisible Man, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde teaming to fight a common enemy.

  Syfy speculated that Penny Dreadful's success may have inspired the revival of this project, but even that show with a similar setting and themes only lasted three seasons; another bad omen for LXG's fate.
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  (#6) The Source Material Was Largely Ignored Due To Proprietary Necessities And Executive Overreach

  There is no Tom Sawyer in the graphic novel version of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. That was an addition made by Fox, possibly to make the movie more attractive to American audiences.

  What's more, Fox couldn't get the rights to some of the characters, like The Invisible Man. In the movie, he's simply an invisible man - a guy with the made-up name Rodney Skinner - who manages to get his hands on an experimental substance that allows him to become invisible, as opposed to him being the creator of said innovation as The Invisible Man is in the source material. Dorian Grey (Stuart Townsend) was also added, presumably to inject a little more (apparent) youth into the project.
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  (#10) Just As Filming Began, The Worst Weather In Over 100 Years Hit Europe, Causing $7 Million In Damage To The Production

  When destructive storms struck Europe in the late summer of 2002, including the filming location of Prague, there was immediate chaos. Flooding caused $7 million in damage to the production alone, and much of the cast and crew actually had to leave Prague for safer conditions.

  All in all, production was delayed by two weeks right out of the gate. An inauspicious start, to say the least. However, Fox wasn't willing to accept any excuses, so the production was not given more time; they were just told to finish the project in more of a hurry, chafing director Stephen Norrington pretty much on day one.

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