V for Vendetta is a
2005 cult action-
thriller film directed by
James McTeigue and produced by
Joel Silver and the
Wachowski brothers, who also wrote the
screenplay. The film is an
adaptation of the
graphic novel V for Vendetta by
Alan Moore and
David Lloyd. Set in
London, United Kingdom in a near-future
dystopian society, the film follows the mysterious
V, a
freedom fighter seeking to effect
sociopolitical change while simultaneously pursuing his own violent personal
vendetta. The film stars
Natalie Portman as
Evey Hammond,
Hugo Weaving as
V,
Stephen Rea as
Inspector Finch and
John Hurt as
Chancellor Sutler.
The film was originally scheduled for release by
Warner Bros. Friday, November 4, 2005 (a day before the 400th
Guy Fawkes Night), but was delayed; it opened on March 17, 2006. Alan Moore, facing his disappointment in both
From Hell and
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, refused to view the film and subsequently distanced himself from it. The filmmakers removed many of the
anarchist themes and
drug references present in the original story and also altered the political message to what they believed would be more relevant to a 2006 audience.