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

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  (#8) The Producer Bought The Graphic Novel Rights And Started Planning The Movie Before The Books Even Came Out

  Part of the large and glaring differences between the graphic novel and the film has to do with a lack of coordination between the studio and Alan Moore, who was still writing the series when Fox set to work on the movie. As a result, Fox pretty much felt they had a lot of freedom in telling the story however they wanted to tell it.

  That said, it still took them a while to write a final script, about which illustrator Kevin O'Neill said, "I don't recognize any of this - the Bank of England, Venice. The character names were similar, but they added Tom Sawyer. It was a bit of an odd thing and I didn't think much more of it... They made the film they set out to make…it's nothing to do with our [League]."
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  (#7) Alan Moore, The Creator Of 'LXG,' Didn't Even Deign To See The Movie

  When Fox wanted Alan Moore to take a look at the script and provide feedback, he apparently declined as he "wanted nothing to do with the film," according to LXG illustrator Kevin O'Neill. There are rumors Moore saw the film (and hated it), but others report Moore claims to never have seen it.

  It's unclear where the truth lies, but whether or not he actually saw the movie, he's definitely not happy about what they did to his work. 
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  (#12) Rumors Abound About Who Was Inappropriately Involved In The Editing Process

  As of 2007, Connery was still negatively reminiscing about his time on LXG, as reported by Heat Vision: "The last [movie] I did, [director Stephen Norrington] was given $85 million to make a movie in Prague, but unfortunately he wasn't certified before he started because he would have been arrested for insanity. So, we worked as well as we could, and [I] ended up being heavily involved in the editing and trying to salvage." 

  Box Office Prophets claims there is also a rumor Connery became so frustrated that he kicked Norrington out of the editing suite. According to producer Don Murphy, though, Connery was never involved in the editing process. Yet another source claims Norrington himself was not really involved in the editing process. Like many elements of the production, it's a matter of rumors, with everyone being disparaged by one colleague or another. 
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  (#2) Production Shut Down For A Full Day Because A Prop Didn't Look Realistic Enough

  The best example of director Stephen Norrington's tyranny is the time he shut down production for a full day because he felt a prop didn't look sufficiently realistic. This led to one of the many "shouting matches" between Sean Connery and Norrington, one that was even rumored to result in a physical altercation between the two, with some saying they almost came to blows, while others reported they actually did throw punches.

  A stagehand told EW, "I’ve never been on a set as tense as this. Everybody just wants to go home.”
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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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  (#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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