Sci Fi Wire is reporting that the opening date for the Warner Bros. film of Alan Moore and Dave Lloyd's V for Vendetta has been delayed from November 4th to March 17th.  A Warner Brothers spokesperson told Sci-Fi Wire that the movie was being held up because of post-production work rather than on account of the film's subject matter and today's political climate.  The movie, which stars Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving, takes place in a fascist England and features an anarchist terrorist who models himself on the notorious would-be bomber Guy Fawkes of the Gunpowder Plot.  A key scene in the film involves a bombing in the London Underground, which some timid souls found to be too similar to the July subway bombings in London. 

Originally scheduled to open on November 4th, the day before Guy Fawkes Day, V for Vendetta will now debut on St. Patrick's Day, March 17th.  The question now becomes will the IRA protest the new opening date?

Thanks to all the pre-release publicity the V for Vendetta film has received, sales of the DC Comics V for Vendetta graphic novel have taken off in both the bookstore and direct markets (see 'Fruits Basket Dominates Bookstore Sales').  Given the enormous success of Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen graphic novels in the wake of an indifferent (at best) LOEG film, V for Vendetta may well end up as one of the top-selling graphic novels of the year -- though the year may turn out to be 2006 rather than 2005.