The popular TV show The Avengers ran from 1961 - 1969, the channel ABC that had produced the show also folded in 1969. Later it's library became part of the Thorn-EMI film library, in 1987 this was purchased by producer Jerry Weintraub, who retained the film rights to The Avengers when the film library once again changed hands.
In 1993 the screenwriter Don Machperson was called into a meeting with Jerry Weintraub, the conversation quickly turned to The Avengers. The result of that meeting was that Macpherson was hired to write he screenplay to the big screen adaptation of The Avengers.
The first draft of of the script was completed in May 1994, although it was well received by the studio a number of rewrites took place during the following months, a draft dated June '95 can be read here.
While completing his work on the film 'Diabolique' the director Jeremiah Cechik was sent a copy of the script, at around the same time the script was sent out to potential cast members, including Raph Fiennes and Uma Thurman.
In 1995 Jeremiah Cechik officially came on board the project, a year later the project was given the green light by Warner Brothers and the cast members and could be locked. In June 1997 after 10 years of preparation, with a script written by Don Macpherson with input from the director Jeremiah Chechik, the film went into production at Pinewood Studios in England.
During the early months of 1998 the film was test screened in various cities around the US, these screenings resulted in cuts been made to film and some hasty re-shoots.
After a year of production, the film opened in the Summer of 1998 with no advance screenings, only to be critically panned by the press and audiences alike. Not everyone disliked the film though and rumours soon started to circulate about a longer version of the film, the many Director's Cut campaigns began..
While the majority of reviews at the time and indeed since have been negative, the film has generated a number of positive reviews over the years.
A number of these have been collected by this site: Positive Reviews
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