Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea is one of the best SF stories ever told, a tale of fantastic ships and terrifying monsters that’s delighted readers for more than a century.
And now it looks like it’ll be delighting Prime Video viewers too, because it’s coming to the screen under the name Nautilus – the vessel Captain Nemo took on his epic adventures.
The show stars 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 from the novel – here’s the first trailer.
What to expect from Nautilus on Prime Video
In the novel, the US government creates an expedition to find and destroy a mysterious and massive sea monster. The story is told from the perspective of marine biologist Professor Pierre Aronnax, who joins the expedition at the last minute only to be shipwrecked by the monster and saved by the Nautilus. Adventures ensure.
The Prime Video show takes a slightly different tack. 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 he then steals in order to enact his revenge. It’s a “reimagining” of the original, and this time the big monster appears to be the East India Company.
It’s a fascinating idea but the UK-based production has had a few issues; the show was originally commissioned by Disney Plus but dropped as part of its cost-cutting, even though it had already been filmed. Hopefully that’s more of a reflection of Disney’s accountants rather than on the show itself, because the trailer looks like it’ll be rather entertaining.
Nautilus will be streaming on Prime Video from the 25th of October 2024.
