Not a single episode of Around the World in 80 Days, an eight-episode adaptation of Jules Verne’s novel, has aired yet, but it’s already been renewed for a second season. The series, which stars David Tennant as Phileas Fogg, took a seven-month break from filming last year due to the pandemic, but is finally coming to screens in January (on BBC One in the UK and Masterpiece PBS in the US).
But the producers also have a second Verne adaptation on their hands. Slim Film + Television and Federation Entertainment announced they’re also teaming up for Journey to the Centre of the Earth, with Around the World writer Ashley Pharoah (Life on Mars) as showrunner.
And, of course, there’s a third Verne incoming from a different corner: Disney+’s Nautilus, starring Shazad Latif as a Captain Nemo with a frustratingly changed backstory.
No details have been announced about Journey to the Centre of the Earth, but Around the World in 80 Days has a whole cast of regulars and guest actors that includes Ibrahim Koma (As Far As I Can Walk) as Passepartout and Leonie Benesch (Babylon Berlin) as Abigail “Fix” Fortescue, a journalist whose character seems like a nod to real-life journalist Nellie Bly, who in 1889 undertook her own 72-day global adventure inspired by Verne’s novel.
The plot is fairly well explained by the title, but in case that wasn’t clear enough, it’s mentioned at least twice in the trailer that Fogg and his companions intend to circumnavigate the globe in eighty days. The trailer also features Tennant saying “No!” in that drawn-out, extremely David Tennant way and a bit of goofy comedy involving a fly in his “actual eye”; it’s leaning pretty hard on the idea that Phileas Fogg is really actually not the least bit cut out for a life of adventure. But Tennant, playing Fogg as cheerily out of his depth, is certainly cut out for this role. He follows in the footsteps of many, including Pierce Brosnan and Steve Coogan, who played Fogg in a 1989 miniseries and generally reviled 2004 film, respectively.
Around the World in 80 Days premieres January 2nd on Masterpiece PBS.
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I hope Journey to the Centre of the Earth gives the assistant more protagonism than the book did, while retaining the amusing character contrast between the risk-embracing professor, the risk-averse assistant and the laconic minion. I don’t expect it to improve on the scientific inaccuracy or the dubious logistics that were the book’s other big flaws; those generally aren’t much of a concern for pulp adaptations, after all.
This looks fun, and since I would probably enjoy watching David Tennant read a phone book, I am definitely in!
I volunteered for several years at a middle school library. We could not keep Jules Verne on the shelves. His books were so popular there was always a waiting list. (Same for Moby Dick, anything by Edgar Allen Poe, and Jack London.) The students didn’t check them out because of assignments, either, they just loved classics. Honestly, it was weird and perplexing, if cool.
So this might have an enormous and enthusiastic audience at all ages.
This looks fun.
Also worth checking out are the films of Karel Zeman, who put his own unique stamp on Verne’s works, particularly the visuals.
Phileas Fogg repaired quietly to the railway station, where he ordered dinner. Among the dishes served up to him, the landlord especially recommended a certain giblet of “native rabbit,” on which he prided himself.
Mr. Fogg accordingly tasted the dish, but, despite its spiced sauce, found it far from palatable. He rang for the landlord, and, on his appearance, said, fixing his clear eyes upon him, “Is this rabbit, sir?”
“Yes, my lord,” the rogue boldly replied, “rabbit from the jungles.”
“And this rabbit did not mew when he was killed?”
“Mew, my lord! What, a rabbit mew! I swear to you–“
“Be so good, landlord, as not to swear, but remember this: cats were formerly considered, in India, as sacred animals. That was a good time.”
“For the cats, my lord?”
“Perhaps for the travelers as well!”
After which Mr. Fogg quietly continued his dinner.
[Jules Verne, Around the World in Eighty Days, 1873]
“He follows in the footsteps of many, including Pierce Brosnan and Steve Coogan, who played Fogg in a 1989 miniseries and generally reviled 2004 film, respectively.”
Surely his most illustrious predecessor is the great David Niven, who starred in the 1956 movie adaptation that won five Oscars including Best Picture. Mexican comedian Cantinflas played Passepartout while the part of the Indian princess was taken by that well known Indian actress… er… Shirley Maclaine. Cameo appearances included Noel Coward, Frank Sinatra, Buster Keaton and Marlene Dietrich! I have vague memories of seeing it on TV as a child and enjoying it, but suspect it hasn’t aged well.
Passepartout was always my favorite part of any adaptation, so I’m excited to see the newest actor and how he does. While the Niven movie is dated, Cantinflas is always a pleasure to watch. And this is always one story where updates to the sensibilities are both required and welcomed so I hope they thoroughly do so.
I’d also recommend watching Around the World in 80s Days with Michael Palin, a documentary journey he takes retracing the path of the novel. It’s an excellent travel documentary.
I read the book decades ago, in an old translation. Those translations left a lot to be desired. It may look different in the original, in France, for the French. But—
I regarded Passepartout as a joke Frenchman. Take the Colonel Blimp idea of the Frogs. That’s already a cartoon. Verne made a cartoon Frenchman out of that cartoon. For the French to giggle over.
Passepartout should be a believable prissy French valet. Making him black spoils the joke.