Franklyn had its world premiere at BFI London Film Festival on 16 October 2008, and was released in the United Kingdom on 27 February 2009, by eOne.

In a comic book-like world, Jonathan Preest is the masked vigilante of Meanwhile City, where everyone is legally enforced to adopt a religion.

[3] After learning that the kidnapped girl has been killed by the Individual, Preest visits Wormsnake, his usual informant, and attacks him.

David, who looks a lot like Preest, breaks into Emilia's apartment, hits her and uses her window to aim a rifle at his father in the restaurant below.

The Meanwhile City reality is actually a fantasy constructed by David after the trauma of both the war and losing his sister at a young age.

Writer-director Gerald McMorrow wrote the original science fiction script Franklyn as his feature debut.

[11] However, McGregor broke his leg in a biking accident in February 2007 during the second series of Long Way Round and was forced to leave the project.

[12][13] Actors Eva Green, Ryan Phillippe, and newcomer Sam Riley were cast in Franklyn in September 2007.

[8] Phillippe was the last to be cast in what McMorrow termed a 'now or never' situation, saying of their first meeting: "You have preconceptions about people... You expect the bleach-blond Californian kid and what you got was an incredibly erudite, brought-up-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks Philadelphia actor.

[6][14] Major locations included an East End bar and Greenwich Naval College, where many of the CGI sequences were shot.

[18] Dave Calhoun of Time Out opined: "Produced by British industry veteran Jeremy Thomas, McMorrow’s admirable if not entirely coherent debut follows the lives of four people in and around London who are attempting to cope with various crises in their lives, from a relationship break-up and the search for a missing son to the psychological after-effects of military service.

"[19] Derek Elley of Variety thought the premise better suited to a novella rather than a feature film, believing that Franklyn lacked an emotional payoff.

[4] Jason Solomons of The Observer reviewed the film, "The visual style is impressive but the storylines are thin and the characters all extremely irritating.

"[20] Fionnuala Halligan of Screen International weighed in: "It's unusual in the current film-making climate to see an independent director making such an ambitious debut as Gerald McMorrow's Franklyn.

He aims high, visually and conceptually, but a more experienced director would have trouble finding the right tone to pull this intricate plot off.