Prime Video is turning my favorite Jules Verne novel into a TV show and the first trailer is extremely exciting
by Jules Verne 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is one of the greatest SF stories ever told, a tale of fantastic ships and terrifying monsters that has delighted readers for more than a century.
And now it looks like Prime Video viewers will be happy with it too, as it will appear on screen under the name Nautilus – the ship Captain Nemo had his epic adventures.
The show features Shazad Latif, Georgia Flood, Thierry Fremont and Céline Menville, with guest appearances from Richard E Grant, Anna Torv and Noah Taylor. And it tells a slightly different story than the novel – here’s the first trailer.
What to expect from Nautilus on Prime Video
In the novel, the US government mounts an expedition to find and destroy a mysterious and enormous sea monster. The story is told from the perspective of marine biologist Professor Pierre Aronnax, who joins the expedition at the last minute, but is shipwrecked by the monster and rescued by the Nautilus. Adventures take care of that.
The Prime Video show takes a slightly different approach. This is an origin story for Captain Nemo, in which he is robbed of his birthright and forced to help build an experimental submarine – a submarine that he then steals to get revenge. It’s a “new version” of the original, and this time the big monster appears to be the East India Company.
It’s a fascinating idea, but British production has some problems; The show was originally commissioned by Disney Plus, but was axed as part of cost-cutting, even though it had already been filmed. Hopefully that’s more of a reflection on Disney’s accountants than the show itself, because the trailer looks like it’ll be quite entertaining.
Nautilus will stream on Prime Video from October 25, 2024.
