The Avengers (1998 film)

The Avengers
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jeremiah S. Chechik
Produced by	Jerry Weintraub
Written by	Don Macpherson
Based on	TV Series by Sydney Newman
Starring	Ralph Fiennes Uma Thurman Sean Connery Jim Broadbent
Music by	Joel McNeely
Cinematography	Roger Pratt
Edited by	Mick Audsley
Production company	JW Productions
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	August 14, 1998 (1998-08-14)
Running time	89 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$60 million
Box office	$48.6 million

The Avengers is a 1998 American action spy film adaptation of the British television series of the same name from the 1960s, directed by Jeremiah Chechik. It stars Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman as secret agents John Steed and Emma Peel, and Sean Connery as Sir August de Wynter, a mad scientist bent on controlling the world's weather. Patrick Macnee, who played John Steed on the original series, makes a vocal cameo as the voice of Invisible Jones. The film was a box office bomb, only grossing $48 million of its $60 million budget, and received generally negative reviews from critics, considering it as one of the worst films ever made.

The film opens with John Steed (Ralph Fiennes), agent of The Ministry, in a training course which he finishes successfully. Next, we see Dr. Emma Peel (Uma Thurman) at home where she receives a phone call telling her to go to a gentlemen's club - no women allowed - where she meets Steed for the first time. The two head off to the Ministry to meet Mother (Jim Broadbent), who informs them the Prospero project - an attempt to influence the weather - was sabotaged apparently by Emma Peel. Dr. Peel claims she is innocent, but she is sent to work alongside Steed to find the real culprit. Mother's off-sider, Father (Fiona Shaw), claims Peel suffers from a mental disease. They go off to visit Sir August De Wynter (Sean Connery), an old ally of The Ministry. He takes an instant liking to Peel, as they both share a love of weather.