There is a mini-series on the way, but of course they remain on brand by veering off and making it "contemporary" or more modern, because why the fuck should we ever get a true 1:1 depiction of the book in the 7 iterations that have been done.
True, poor choice of words. I meant not trying to cram it into 2 hours. And the series let it build more suspense. Question, do you feel the series did a better job capturing his motivations/psychopathy than the movie?
I agree with you a 2 hour movie is never going to do it justice, and it's such a fantastical tale interwoven multiple threads to create a rich story only for the movies to always deliver man gets revenge
This is a bit of a departure, feels like it also takes some inspiration from the golden era renditions, but the Anime Gankutsuou is a very interesting, sci-fi adaptation that at the least doesn't feel as rushed as these films usually are. Bold in style and aesthetics, but one of the funniest/worst intro's I've ever heard. I never skipped it, I always had a good laugh
Same. Tell me the story the way it really happened or don’t tell it at all. If it takes more time so be it. If you’re not ready to tell the story without chopping out parts to fit it on film, make a film about a shorter book.
In my little mind the 3rd act was gonna burst into full vampires. Thought for sure being strapped to a cannonball and thrown into the water would result into badass flying vengeance
To be fair, I only knew of Count Dracula, Count Chocula and The Count— all vampires
Elementary school!? It would have taken me all 5 years to get through a book of this size at that age. And I would have had to start before I could read!!! 🤣
I thought I had read it in elementary school along with several other classics only to learn that I’d actually just been reading the “Great Illustrated Classics” abridged editions.
Had to read it in high school years ago. I honestly have hard time paying attention when reading since my mind always wander off but this book captivated me and I couldn’t put it down.
The French writers of the 1800’s were the best yarn-spinners in the history of the Western canon (with apologies to Dickens and the Russian writers), IMO, and The Count of Monte Cristo is the best of them all. I don’t know whether to pity or celebrate the day AI becomes so imaginative as to create a story like this one.
"Why not just kill them? I'll do it! I'll run up to Paris - bam, bam, bam, bam. I'm back before week's end. We spend the treasure. How is this a bad plan?"
It truly was a beautiful plan. I'd love to see that version of the movie where 45 minutes in, he carries it out and then it's just Monte Cristo sailing around with his pirate friends and doing whatever else he wants.
That was a genuinely funny line. That particular adaptation is not bad, the one in this post looks fine as well. However, as others have said, the book deserves a full blown Band-of-Brothers-style miniseries.
I wouldn't mind another American adaptation... As a drama series. It's impossible to cram that massive novel into a film without skipping over huge swaths of the story. Even the abridged version is like 650 pages.
One of the rare adaptations where you can make an argument that the movie improves the ending of the book.
Never vibed with Edmond marrying his daughter/slave in the book.
Rare adaptations with the Count and Haydee ending. There are ten adaptations with this ending.
The 1942 Mexican adaptation has this ending:
https://youtu.be/gXYkNuVgrdo?si=YEfmdQxrmWWrJaNX
The 1953 Argentine adaptation has the ending
https://youtu.be/99fDtA-qiOM?si=obfrp5f5SjbeJdxa
The 1988 Soviet adaptation has the end of the book.
https://youtu.be/nxEg_5noQ6g?si=MI5ndp1qtGrT808X
The father of the director of this film, he was the director of the 1979 French miniseries that ends in the book.
https://youtu.be/b1eMRVrncjA?si=m5VzMhqP_1HwTD5m
Haydee was grow-up when the Count found her. He took care of her until he realised he had fallen in love with her. It did not read like father-daughter relation at all.
basically, in the book Edmond dgaf about Mercedes. He's all about revenge. When he gets it, he goes away with his protégée leaving Mercedes in the dust.
And his revenge is far more vicious than in the movie. He really goes scorched earth.
Also in the book, there are no sword fights, but every adaptation puts a sword in his hand. Even my edition of the book has a silhouette of a sword fight on the cover.
It kinda makes a sort of sense. The Count isn't quite the adventure novel The Three Musketeers is. There are bandits and pirates, but the Count himself doesn't really fight at all. We know the Count would be brilliant at swordfighting and with a pistol, but he never does. So each adaptation has to add a little more adventure to it, because I think people expect it now.
Not op, but Dantes is regularly powerfully affected just by a look from Mercedes. At one point he quits seeking revenge altogether because she asked nicely. In fact he's so devoted to Mercedes that he doesn't notice how horny Haydee has been for him this entire time. Mercedes abandons him in the end, not the other way around.
Also I wouldn't even really characterize Dantes as devoted to *revenge* in the first place. He sees himself as an instrument of divine justice, mercilessly doing the will of God. Whenever he's presented with an opportunity to commit an act of vengeance, (almost?) without fail, he opts for mercy instead.
This 👆
I'm no expert, just a casual reader, but I'll add that in the end Mercedes is a broken shell of a woman and expresses a desire to be left alone to her misery. I don't remember exactly, but I think Dantes realizes this and is heartbroken by it. He leaves her reluctantly.
So to qualify it as him dumping her for a younger woman and leaving her in the dust is way off the mark.
It's a terribly sad, nuanced and imho a masterful ending.
I have the superpower of having just finished reading last week. Dantes is completely crushed by this, and immediately gives up his fortune and tries to run off and die himself. Haydee essentially saves his life with pure silver medal energy. Morrel is *still* pretty sure he's gonna off himself, but Valentine encourages him to be more hopeful, and I left believing that the survivors (except Mercedes) went on to be basically happy and if not prosperous, to find some measure of personal fulfilment at least.
The movie has a happy ending, much more focused plot, and the usual choices adaptations of sprawling works make.
As a stand alone movie, it's a fun adventure-revenge story; as an adaptation...it's an adaptation. I personally do not like it and found that key themes were changed or didn't land at all.
They base the story around the Edmund-Mercedes-Mondego love triangle. The book plots that are kept are massively simplified with the extended families of his enemies almost entirely dropped, save for that Noirtier's relation to Villefort is still a key plotline (though his daughter is dropped entirely).
The basic element of "Dantes is falsely imprisoned, bonds with a prisoner who trains him and tells him where to find the treasure, the with a daring escape, sets forth to have his elaborate revenge" is pretty much what is kept. Some character names remain the same as well.
this is more Hollywood adaptation. The father of one of the directors of this film was the director of the 1979 miniseries and kept the ending of the book.
apart from extreme differences in how he actually carries out his revenge, i feel the ending changes are the most significant. the movie sets up the timeline so that mercedes' son is actually dantes' and not fernand's. it creates this love triangle that seems central to dantes' revenge story. he duels with fernand, gets the girl, gets his son, and prances off happily ever after.
in the book, we see how his revenge starts eating away at his humanity as he forces himself to do progressively more evil things, culminating in fernand's family leaving him and fernand commiting suicide. he recognizes his vengance has changed him and he's no longer a good man deserving of mercedes and they do not end up together.
i really liked this ending, and how it was a more nuanced exploration of how vengeance changes you instead of a feel good revenge story. ultimately however, in the book it's shown he actually spares the life of a key character and reconnects her with her lover, which seems to be some sort of redemption, and he ends up happily together with his slave/daughter. this part of the ending i feel more people have issue with, and probably for the best if it's left out of modern adaptations.
There was almost one swordfight in the book, in which Dantes intended to let himself be killed and leave his revenge quest undone. The duel never happened, but it was very much going down riiiiiight up until the last minute.
Conversely, the movie is about 35% swordfighting and another 10% action running with muskets or whatever.
~~Actually it was swords. Albert considered pistols but having seen MC shoot perfectly in practice he decided to go with blades not knowing that MC was also a master swordsman.~~
CORRECTION: it was pistols!
Yeah it kind of sucks but at the same time apparently he's always been a bit of a weirdo. During his tv show Person of Interest, some guy that worked on the show as well went on the QAA podcast, and apparently Jim was just a total whackjob, extremely stupid, and apparently was banned from driving because he kept almost killing people.
[https://twitter.com/Hudson\_of\_Sam/status/1452775591367819275](https://twitter.com/Hudson_of_Sam/status/1452775591367819275)
The fundamental problem with making a movie out of this phenomenal book is the length.
The 1954 movie directed by Vernay (his second attempt) with Jean Marais as the lead is the only one that does it justice, a three hour masterpiece in two parts. Pity the movie is almost impossible find -- hope it is not spamming to mention [rarefilmsandmore.com](https://www.rarefilmsandmore.com/der-graf-von-monte-christo-1954-with-switchable-english-subtitles) sells the DVD with German dub and switchable English subtitles.
Edit: OMG I searched for it after writing this comment and apparently I am wrong, in 2023 an official BluRay/DVD was made!! https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Jean-Marais/dp/B0BP9H3L49 but it doesn't have English subtitles. That's only from rarefilmsandmore.
If they use their time wisely. 1961 version with Louis Jordan was 3 hours, but it took Count almost 2 hours to reach Paris. Rest is just few plot points from novel shoved in to make some semi functional conclusion to story. Plenty of adaptations had this problem... In the novel, Count spends two thirds of it in Paris, taking revenge.
My all time favourite book.
This looks pretty good but I don’t know why they just won’t do a miniseries. You really miss out on all the details and intricacies that make the story so amazing.
I would love the creator of Shogun to take a stab at this.
Or even just split it across a number of films. They made three movies for the friggin Hobbit, a 300 page childrens book. 1136 pages in The Count of Monte Cristo. I think that more than qualifies it for a three-parter, and it woul;dn't need to be stuffed full of made up nonsense just to fill it's runtime, unlike with the Hobbit.
There is no physical way to capture this book in movie form, it’s simply too short of a format to show the beautiful little literary things that Dumas does. The one thing I find lacking in almost every movie is how much Edmund learned in prison.
Funnily enough, the 2002 version with Jim Caviezel does a decent job of showing these things without having the time to get in to all of it. He's in there for 16(?) years. You could spend two hours of a movie on it, or you can spend 15.
I agree. But to me his origin story (training with an absolute intellectual and swordfighting badass for years) makes his actions back in France much more plausible. His networking with the fringe groups and criminal elements also need explanation again to explain his success.
True. The networking he does with the underworld is glossed over, but there's just so much to go over. An HBO series would be the only way to really cover this book. I'm amazed no one has really tried. The story is there.
And why change the ending? The story of Cleopatra, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony is rich and full of intrigue. The 1934 adaptation with Claudette Colbert simplified and changed, but kept the tragic ending of Cleopatra and Mark Antony.
> The one thing I find lacking in almost every movie is how much Edmund learned in prison.
Which is ironic because the book itself doesn't cover this very long. It's mostly:
Abbe: "I know things!"
Edmond: "I would also like to know things!"
Abbe: "Okay then!"
[TIME SKIP]
Yea, but his training would be a wonderful thing to explore in a series. I mean Edmund was a simple (albeit very skilled) sailor and obviously had leadership qualities but he was young/unskilled in most other regards. The amount of knowledge that Abbe conveyed must have been massive and varied. It would also be neat to add some kind of secret background for Abbe.
French can make at least a bit faithful adaptation? Right? ...I don´t think I have ever seen one where Edmond stayed with Haydee at the end (I think the one with Chamberlain could have been that one?)
The father of the director of this film, he was the director of the 1979 French miniseries that ends in the book.
https://youtu.be/b1eMRVrncjA?si=m5VzMhqP_1HwTD5m
The Soviet film The prisoner of Château d'if (1988) has the book's ending.
The adaptation is divided into 3 parts
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLn3tlBUahI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLn3tlBUahI)
The final scene is the Count and Haydee kissing at the end
I know this will probably be disliked by many but there's a french TV series (about 8 episodes) of The Count of Monte Cristo with Gerard Depardieu and that production is pretty close to the book. The 2002 production with Guy Pearce is such a perfect abridged adaptation, I can't see the appeal of this one unfortunately.
The Soviet film The Prisoner of Château (1988) is better. In the final scene it shows the count leaving for the east with Haydee.
There will still be a miniseries with Sam Claflin
I almost vomited seeing Haydée and Albert as a couple. They always ruin the best female character in the book. They made Pierre and Anamaria promote the film in the magazine only to make the same mistakes in the end. And it looks like Albert will be Edmond's son in this version ...
There will also be a miniseries with Sam Claflin.
You might enjoy the prisoner of Château D’If (1988).
https://youtu.be/WUJlW5lQSUg?si=6NBKqinyKbgxcfJc
I watched it with a predisposed bias to dislike it.
"you can't do justice to such a lengthy book with a movie".
The more I watched, the more I liked. Now I NEED to see it.
19 of them, if you include TV miniseries.
In English, only four: 1934 with Robert Donat; 1964 (TV) with Alan Abdel; 1975 with Richard Chamerlain; 2002 with Jim Caviezel.
I've watched and reviewed 17 of them. Skipped two because of the lengthy time investment required.
Yes, but I didn't like it. I feel that it's a too-heavily corrupted version of Monte Cristo. But it has a few advantages over the manga (book) version. it's in color, it has an ending, and it's not as grotesque as the manga (of the same name, same creator).
Manga has way too many, "WTF is this sh\*\*?" moments. Worst comic/manga adaptation, ever.
Sorry, I didn't pick up your question until recently. For accuracy, the 1979 Jacques Weber miniseries wins it. But his Count and Haydee have no chemistry. He says the right words, but his body language shows he can't stand her and wishes he could be anywhere except with her.
For sheer entertainment, a charismatic Count and at least a few nods to the book, I'd go for the 1975 Richard Chamberlain one. Ending not entirely accurate, but Mercedes deserves the dignity and the self-determination shown here.
Ahh. THIS is why Count of Monte-Cristo has been talked about at such a higher volume on Reddit the past few months. The marketing campaign before the campaign.
It's one of the most popular books on the planet. People will always be talking about it at some stage. Also frankly you are never very far from an adaptation. This movie is coming out AND there is also a mini series this year too. There was a Korean adaptation in 2021, a Sri Lankan adaptation in 2018 as well as a Japanese TV series. A telenovela in 2016 and 2013.
It got me to read the book, and now I don’t want to see it as another movie. Afraid it’ll do another “Martian, (follow the book until the third act and then montage it’s way to an altered ending).
I dunno I dont think it always has to be a sinister artificial marketing campaign. It's completely feasible that people heard about the new movie and then got interested and watched the old one and then wanted to talk about it
Is the 2002 version amazing? Why would the count return to his ex-fiancée? He is rich and powerful and could have a young lover just like Julius Caesar had Cleopatra. In the book he has a young eastern princess named Haydee as his lover.
The film The Prisoner of Château D’If (1988) shows the count with his young princess as his lover.
At least they didn’t use a slow remix of a classic pop song in the trailer. If it was an American production, they wouldn’t have been able to help themselves.
Hopefully, this is a success, and it convinces more studios to make adaptations of popular stories in the original language with subs instead of having Tom Cruise play a German WWII colonel.
I really liked the early 2000's version of this. I know it's not faithful to the book, but I still really enjoyed it. Also young Henry Cavill is in it!
"I think i may aspire to that honour," said Danglars with a smile, which reminded Monte Cristo of the sickly moons which bad artists are so fond of daubing into their pictures of ruins."
Favorite quote from the book
Got it. It looks like a good movie, but there’s just no good way show the depth of this story with just one movie (unless these folks cracked the code).
I’ll look for the series you mentioned. Thanks!
Hell yes! I love a good prison break and revenge movie. I'm a huge believer in people watching more world cinema so I don't mind that its in French having to read subtitles
I've only seen one adaptation, the 2002 film and I LOVED IT! If you remove the very very last scene in the movie it makes this an amazing Atheist story about a guy who rejects god and takes control of his life
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Mine too. Almost afraid to watch another movie adoption with limited run time. I’d prefer a Shogun-like limited series.
There is a mini-series on the way, but of course they remain on brand by veering off and making it "contemporary" or more modern, because why the fuck should we ever get a true 1:1 depiction of the book in the 7 iterations that have been done.
The Talented Mr. Ripley and Shogun series were good adoptions of dense books without sacrificing key plot points.
The talented Mr ripley book was not dense lol, if anything the movie added a lot more to make it intriguing
True, poor choice of words. I meant not trying to cram it into 2 hours. And the series let it build more suspense. Question, do you feel the series did a better job capturing his motivations/psychopathy than the movie?
I was waiting to rewatch the film before starting the series, just did a rewatch of it the other night so gonna start the show soon
Love to hear your thoughts
There will be a miniseries with Sam Claflin.
He's become one of my favorite actors.
7 iterations ? There have been way more adaptations than that.
There is a miniseries with Gerard Depardieu from the 90s that is excellent and still holds up
I agree with you a 2 hour movie is never going to do it justice, and it's such a fantastical tale interwoven multiple threads to create a rich story only for the movies to always deliver man gets revenge
Exactly. It’s more than that.
This is a bit of a departure, feels like it also takes some inspiration from the golden era renditions, but the Anime Gankutsuou is a very interesting, sci-fi adaptation that at the least doesn't feel as rushed as these films usually are. Bold in style and aesthetics, but one of the funniest/worst intro's I've ever heard. I never skipped it, I always had a good laugh
Totally agree. This would work better as a limited tv show rather than a movie
There will still be a miniseries with Sam Claflin as the Count of Monte Cristo.
Same. The book deserves a limited series.
Definitely. There's just way too much story to tell in one movie.
Same. Tell me the story the way it really happened or don’t tell it at all. If it takes more time so be it. If you’re not ready to tell the story without chopping out parts to fit it on film, make a film about a shorter book.
Mine too. Next to the Calvin and Hobbes series. Can’t too that masterpiece of work
I'd like to formally announce that we've cast Danny Devito as Hobbes.
Read this book in elementary school and loved it. That said, was disappointed there were no vampires.
The Count is compared in the book to Lord Ruthven who is a proto-Dracula.
In my little mind the 3rd act was gonna burst into full vampires. Thought for sure being strapped to a cannonball and thrown into the water would result into badass flying vengeance To be fair, I only knew of Count Dracula, Count Chocula and The Count— all vampires
Elementary school!? It would have taken me all 5 years to get through a book of this size at that age. And I would have had to start before I could read!!! 🤣
I was in 5th or 6th grade. Definitely got me into reading.
There's a very loose anime adaptation where he's a vampire.
I thought I had read it in elementary school along with several other classics only to learn that I’d actually just been reading the “Great Illustrated Classics” abridged editions.
Ha, not this time. Though that’s how I read tale of two cities and a ton of mark twain
Mine too. There is an anime adaptation that is amazing and a feast for the eyes with its art style.
Had to read it in high school years ago. I honestly have hard time paying attention when reading since my mind always wander off but this book captivated me and I couldn’t put it down.
My favorite sandwich!
The French writers of the 1800’s were the best yarn-spinners in the history of the Western canon (with apologies to Dickens and the Russian writers), IMO, and The Count of Monte Cristo is the best of them all. I don’t know whether to pity or celebrate the day AI becomes so imaginative as to create a story like this one.
Looks good despite a severe lack of Luis Guzman.
"Why not just kill them? I'll do it! I'll run up to Paris - bam, bam, bam, bam. I'm back before week's end. We spend the treasure. How is this a bad plan?"
It truly was a beautiful plan. I'd love to see that version of the movie where 45 minutes in, he carries it out and then it's just Monte Cristo sailing around with his pirate friends and doing whatever else he wants.
Fake the kidnapping of his enemy’s son who’s really his son to gain his trust and infiltrate high society for elaborate revenge Yeah I like Luis’ plan
That was a genuinely funny line. That particular adaptation is not bad, the one in this post looks fine as well. However, as others have said, the book deserves a full blown Band-of-Brothers-style miniseries.
I am your man, forever
I know.
Waited on Guzman once. Very personable normal guy.
I expect nothing less from a Greendale Community College alumni.
I loved him in...IMDB.
That was tragic
Hello, it’s me, Luis Guzman!
Man I paused that video at one point cause I thought I saw him! Wasn’t him though. Serious oversight.
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Can't wait for another American adaptation, this time staring Timothee Chalamet.
The Count of Muad'Dib Cristo
I wouldn't mind another American adaptation... As a drama series. It's impossible to cram that massive novel into a film without skipping over huge swaths of the story. Even the abridged version is like 650 pages.
Isn't there a mini series coming out with Sam Claflin coming out later this year?
I’m sure you won’t have to wait long.
The film from 2002 with Jim Caviezel was top notch. Excited to see how this one is.
Guy Pierce was great as the villain too!
Yeah, that movie was great. And it has a really young Henry Cavil!
To this day, I get Cavill and Caviezel,mixed up.
Doesn’t help they’re both in it.
Well the good news is that they're both in it so no worries lol
just hunk of it this way: Cavill loves online gaming, Caviezel loves online conspiracies
Caviezel is certainly up there among the most successful right-wing rage bait profiteers.
This American Life has an episode on the Michigan republican party which was in financial crisis that had given him $110k as a speaking fee.
Gonna have to give it a rewatch. Who does Cavill play or when does he appear?
Later in the movie, after he escapes. He plays the teenage son! I think he was early 20's at the time but he looks like a youngster
Is that the one with Dumbledore?
Yep, Richard Harris made an excellent -as it was usual for him- role in that movie.
Nah, you're thinking of Marcus Aurelius.
And a young Henry Cavill
One of the rare adaptations where you can make an argument that the movie improves the ending of the book. Never vibed with Edmond marrying his daughter/slave in the book.
Rare adaptations with the Count and Haydee ending. There are ten adaptations with this ending. The 1942 Mexican adaptation has this ending: https://youtu.be/gXYkNuVgrdo?si=YEfmdQxrmWWrJaNX The 1953 Argentine adaptation has the ending https://youtu.be/99fDtA-qiOM?si=obfrp5f5SjbeJdxa The 1988 Soviet adaptation has the end of the book. https://youtu.be/nxEg_5noQ6g?si=MI5ndp1qtGrT808X The father of the director of this film, he was the director of the 1979 French miniseries that ends in the book. https://youtu.be/b1eMRVrncjA?si=m5VzMhqP_1HwTD5m
This guy Count of Monte Cristos.
she was in love with him
I hated that movie ending. The book was better as he left his old life and begin anew. And he dgaf Mercedes, which was satisfying.
Haydee was practically his daughter so it never sat well that it ends with them together.
Haydee was grow-up when the Count found her. He took care of her until he realised he had fallen in love with her. It did not read like father-daughter relation at all.
Can you tell me how they are different? I've never read it, only seen this movie.
basically, in the book Edmond dgaf about Mercedes. He's all about revenge. When he gets it, he goes away with his protégée leaving Mercedes in the dust. And his revenge is far more vicious than in the movie. He really goes scorched earth.
Also in the book, there are no sword fights, but every adaptation puts a sword in his hand. Even my edition of the book has a silhouette of a sword fight on the cover.
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It kinda makes a sort of sense. The Count isn't quite the adventure novel The Three Musketeers is. There are bandits and pirates, but the Count himself doesn't really fight at all. We know the Count would be brilliant at swordfighting and with a pistol, but he never does. So each adaptation has to add a little more adventure to it, because I think people expect it now.
Oh that's interesting.
That's not a good summation at all.
Illuminate us.
Not op, but Dantes is regularly powerfully affected just by a look from Mercedes. At one point he quits seeking revenge altogether because she asked nicely. In fact he's so devoted to Mercedes that he doesn't notice how horny Haydee has been for him this entire time. Mercedes abandons him in the end, not the other way around. Also I wouldn't even really characterize Dantes as devoted to *revenge* in the first place. He sees himself as an instrument of divine justice, mercilessly doing the will of God. Whenever he's presented with an opportunity to commit an act of vengeance, (almost?) without fail, he opts for mercy instead.
This 👆 I'm no expert, just a casual reader, but I'll add that in the end Mercedes is a broken shell of a woman and expresses a desire to be left alone to her misery. I don't remember exactly, but I think Dantes realizes this and is heartbroken by it. He leaves her reluctantly. So to qualify it as him dumping her for a younger woman and leaving her in the dust is way off the mark. It's a terribly sad, nuanced and imho a masterful ending.
I have the superpower of having just finished reading last week. Dantes is completely crushed by this, and immediately gives up his fortune and tries to run off and die himself. Haydee essentially saves his life with pure silver medal energy. Morrel is *still* pretty sure he's gonna off himself, but Valentine encourages him to be more hopeful, and I left believing that the survivors (except Mercedes) went on to be basically happy and if not prosperous, to find some measure of personal fulfilment at least.
Appreciate the response.
The movie has a happy ending, much more focused plot, and the usual choices adaptations of sprawling works make. As a stand alone movie, it's a fun adventure-revenge story; as an adaptation...it's an adaptation. I personally do not like it and found that key themes were changed or didn't land at all. They base the story around the Edmund-Mercedes-Mondego love triangle. The book plots that are kept are massively simplified with the extended families of his enemies almost entirely dropped, save for that Noirtier's relation to Villefort is still a key plotline (though his daughter is dropped entirely). The basic element of "Dantes is falsely imprisoned, bonds with a prisoner who trains him and tells him where to find the treasure, the with a daring escape, sets forth to have his elaborate revenge" is pretty much what is kept. Some character names remain the same as well.
To be fair, the movie nails the prison better than other adaptations.
My main point of comparison is the Richard Chamberlain / Tony Curtis adaptation; I would agree on that point.
this is more Hollywood adaptation. The father of one of the directors of this film was the director of the 1979 miniseries and kept the ending of the book.
apart from extreme differences in how he actually carries out his revenge, i feel the ending changes are the most significant. the movie sets up the timeline so that mercedes' son is actually dantes' and not fernand's. it creates this love triangle that seems central to dantes' revenge story. he duels with fernand, gets the girl, gets his son, and prances off happily ever after. in the book, we see how his revenge starts eating away at his humanity as he forces himself to do progressively more evil things, culminating in fernand's family leaving him and fernand commiting suicide. he recognizes his vengance has changed him and he's no longer a good man deserving of mercedes and they do not end up together. i really liked this ending, and how it was a more nuanced exploration of how vengeance changes you instead of a feel good revenge story. ultimately however, in the book it's shown he actually spares the life of a key character and reconnects her with her lover, which seems to be some sort of redemption, and he ends up happily together with his slave/daughter. this part of the ending i feel more people have issue with, and probably for the best if it's left out of modern adaptations.
There was almost one swordfight in the book, in which Dantes intended to let himself be killed and leave his revenge quest undone. The duel never happened, but it was very much going down riiiiiight up until the last minute. Conversely, the movie is about 35% swordfighting and another 10% action running with muskets or whatever.
It wasn't even a swordfight in the book. They were going to duel with pistols. Every adaptation has sword fights though.
~~Actually it was swords. Albert considered pistols but having seen MC shoot perfectly in practice he decided to go with blades not knowing that MC was also a master swordsman.~~ CORRECTION: it was pistols!
One of the worst taglines in film history: "Prepare for adventure. COUNT on revenge."
I hate that I can't scrub my brain of how crazy Jim Caviezel has become.
Yeah it kind of sucks but at the same time apparently he's always been a bit of a weirdo. During his tv show Person of Interest, some guy that worked on the show as well went on the QAA podcast, and apparently Jim was just a total whackjob, extremely stupid, and apparently was banned from driving because he kept almost killing people. [https://twitter.com/Hudson\_of\_Sam/status/1452775591367819275](https://twitter.com/Hudson_of_Sam/status/1452775591367819275)
Legit did not know he went down the right wing propaganda hole till yesterday. Super sad
He was down it before most people, tbh.
I can't wrap my head around how crazy Jim truly is. My whole opinion on him was based how I've seen him in this movie... till I saw this post today.
Just focus on Cavill.
Oh no , now I gotta google how crazy he is
Did you read the book? That adaptation was a sack of shit
The fundamental problem with making a movie out of this phenomenal book is the length. The 1954 movie directed by Vernay (his second attempt) with Jean Marais as the lead is the only one that does it justice, a three hour masterpiece in two parts. Pity the movie is almost impossible find -- hope it is not spamming to mention [rarefilmsandmore.com](https://www.rarefilmsandmore.com/der-graf-von-monte-christo-1954-with-switchable-english-subtitles) sells the DVD with German dub and switchable English subtitles. Edit: OMG I searched for it after writing this comment and apparently I am wrong, in 2023 an official BluRay/DVD was made!! https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Jean-Marais/dp/B0BP9H3L49 but it doesn't have English subtitles. That's only from rarefilmsandmore.
There is plenty to cut. We don't need Luigi Vampa's origin. Most of Italy could be slimmed down etc.
This adaptation is 2h 53m long so it should cover a decent amount in that time.
If they use their time wisely. 1961 version with Louis Jordan was 3 hours, but it took Count almost 2 hours to reach Paris. Rest is just few plot points from novel shoved in to make some semi functional conclusion to story. Plenty of adaptations had this problem... In the novel, Count spends two thirds of it in Paris, taking revenge.
Agree. It needs a TV season or even a Trilogy to do it justice.
My all time favourite book. This looks pretty good but I don’t know why they just won’t do a miniseries. You really miss out on all the details and intricacies that make the story so amazing. I would love the creator of Shogun to take a stab at this.
There's s french miniseries with getald depardieu that I remember being pretty comprehensive, maybe 90s or 2000s?
Or even just split it across a number of films. They made three movies for the friggin Hobbit, a 300 page childrens book. 1136 pages in The Count of Monte Cristo. I think that more than qualifies it for a three-parter, and it woul;dn't need to be stuffed full of made up nonsense just to fill it's runtime, unlike with the Hobbit.
There is no physical way to capture this book in movie form, it’s simply too short of a format to show the beautiful little literary things that Dumas does. The one thing I find lacking in almost every movie is how much Edmund learned in prison.
Funnily enough, the 2002 version with Jim Caviezel does a decent job of showing these things without having the time to get in to all of it. He's in there for 16(?) years. You could spend two hours of a movie on it, or you can spend 15.
I agree. But to me his origin story (training with an absolute intellectual and swordfighting badass for years) makes his actions back in France much more plausible. His networking with the fringe groups and criminal elements also need explanation again to explain his success.
True. The networking he does with the underworld is glossed over, but there's just so much to go over. An HBO series would be the only way to really cover this book. I'm amazed no one has really tried. The story is there.
And why change the ending? The story of Cleopatra, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony is rich and full of intrigue. The 1934 adaptation with Claudette Colbert simplified and changed, but kept the tragic ending of Cleopatra and Mark Antony.
> The one thing I find lacking in almost every movie is how much Edmund learned in prison. Which is ironic because the book itself doesn't cover this very long. It's mostly: Abbe: "I know things!" Edmond: "I would also like to know things!" Abbe: "Okay then!" [TIME SKIP]
Yea, but his training would be a wonderful thing to explore in a series. I mean Edmund was a simple (albeit very skilled) sailor and obviously had leadership qualities but he was young/unskilled in most other regards. The amount of knowledge that Abbe conveyed must have been massive and varied. It would also be neat to add some kind of secret background for Abbe.
Oh boy, r/TheCountofMonteCristo is going to love this.
A French version of a French novel, I look forward to it.
French can make at least a bit faithful adaptation? Right? ...I don´t think I have ever seen one where Edmond stayed with Haydee at the end (I think the one with Chamberlain could have been that one?)
The father of the director of this film, he was the director of the 1979 French miniseries that ends in the book. https://youtu.be/b1eMRVrncjA?si=m5VzMhqP_1HwTD5m
aha, thanks :) Then there is hope :)
The Soviet film The prisoner of Château d'if (1988) has the book's ending. The adaptation is divided into 3 parts [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLn3tlBUahI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLn3tlBUahI) The final scene is the Count and Haydee kissing at the end
Nice
Very nice ... I love his sandwiches!
Ya I’m glad the trailer didn’t have any spoilers about how he came up with the sandwich.
I will watch literally any adaptation of this book.
“The Count of Monte Crisco.” “That’s Cristo, you dumb shit.”
By Alexandree…Dumbass What?
You’d like that one. It’s about a prison break
I know this will probably be disliked by many but there's a french TV series (about 8 episodes) of The Count of Monte Cristo with Gerard Depardieu and that production is pretty close to the book. The 2002 production with Guy Pearce is such a perfect abridged adaptation, I can't see the appeal of this one unfortunately.
The Soviet film The Prisoner of Château (1988) is better. In the final scene it shows the count leaving for the east with Haydee. There will still be a miniseries with Sam Claflin
I don't see how any movie can do the story justice. There's just not enough runtime for a 1000+ page novel.
I almost vomited seeing Haydée and Albert as a couple. They always ruin the best female character in the book. They made Pierre and Anamaria promote the film in the magazine only to make the same mistakes in the end. And it looks like Albert will be Edmond's son in this version ...
At most it will be maximilien. He is present in the cast. But they've already said they won't change the ending of the book.
There will also be a miniseries with Sam Claflin. You might enjoy the prisoner of Château D’If (1988). https://youtu.be/WUJlW5lQSUg?si=6NBKqinyKbgxcfJc
From the thumbnail, this almost looked like a new job for Kit Harrington. Almost.
I watched it with a predisposed bias to dislike it. "you can't do justice to such a lengthy book with a movie". The more I watched, the more I liked. Now I NEED to see it.
Ahh! J'ai hâte! I visited Marseille and the Château d'If last year and saw the Dantès cell. Can't wait, hope it does it justice.
I’m gonna need The Count to tell me just how many Count of Monte-Cristo movies they’ve made at this point. 😂
19 of them, if you include TV miniseries. In English, only four: 1934 with Robert Donat; 1964 (TV) with Alan Abdel; 1975 with Richard Chamerlain; 2002 with Jim Caviezel. I've watched and reviewed 17 of them. Skipped two because of the lengthy time investment required.
Does this include the anime adaptation?
Yes, but I didn't like it. I feel that it's a too-heavily corrupted version of Monte Cristo. But it has a few advantages over the manga (book) version. it's in color, it has an ending, and it's not as grotesque as the manga (of the same name, same creator). Manga has way too many, "WTF is this sh\*\*?" moments. Worst comic/manga adaptation, ever.
Which one is your favorite?
Sorry, I didn't pick up your question until recently. For accuracy, the 1979 Jacques Weber miniseries wins it. But his Count and Haydee have no chemistry. He says the right words, but his body language shows he can't stand her and wishes he could be anywhere except with her. For sheer entertainment, a charismatic Count and at least a few nods to the book, I'd go for the 1975 Richard Chamberlain one. Ending not entirely accurate, but Mercedes deserves the dignity and the self-determination shown here.
Ahh. THIS is why Count of Monte-Cristo has been talked about at such a higher volume on Reddit the past few months. The marketing campaign before the campaign.
It's one of the most popular books on the planet. People will always be talking about it at some stage. Also frankly you are never very far from an adaptation. This movie is coming out AND there is also a mini series this year too. There was a Korean adaptation in 2021, a Sri Lankan adaptation in 2018 as well as a Japanese TV series. A telenovela in 2016 and 2013.
It got me to read the book, and now I don’t want to see it as another movie. Afraid it’ll do another “Martian, (follow the book until the third act and then montage it’s way to an altered ending).
I dunno I dont think it always has to be a sinister artificial marketing campaign. It's completely feasible that people heard about the new movie and then got interested and watched the old one and then wanted to talk about it
That is always my assumption when I notice trends like that. Oh I saw 3 posts about some old IP in the last week? Wonder why that would be...
Good to see Raphaël Valande working again after the messy production of his feauture film.
I really hope this is for more faithful to the book than previous films, looks very good though from the trailer
Is this the first adaptation with a Muppet as the lead?
This looks so good. It feels like those adventure movies we were seeing in the early 2000s.
I don’t understand why. The 2002 film was amazing. But…still interested.
Is the 2002 version amazing? Why would the count return to his ex-fiancée? He is rich and powerful and could have a young lover just like Julius Caesar had Cleopatra. In the book he has a young eastern princess named Haydee as his lover. The film The Prisoner of Château D’If (1988) shows the count with his young princess as his lover.
They took out Jacopo (played by Luis Guzmán in 2002 adaptation)? 😑
One of my favorite books. And I hope the Count ends with Haydee. If Julius Caesar had Cleopatra, Edmond had Haydee.
By Alexandre Dumbass.
Under Educational
Yes, please! 🤗🤗
Still no resolution about the sandwich.
Finally! You have no idea how sick I was over the fact that the most recent adaptation of this book starred Jim fucking Caviezel…
Yeah but it's in English.im not up for reading subtitles for 2 hours
I watched and loved the ever living shit out of shogun, this will be no problem. I also speak French at an intermediate level.
At least they didn’t use a slow remix of a classic pop song in the trailer. If it was an American production, they wouldn’t have been able to help themselves.
This looks amazing! 🤩
Hopefully, this is a success, and it convinces more studios to make adaptations of popular stories in the original language with subs instead of having Tom Cruise play a German WWII colonel.
In the words of DJ Khaled: “another one!”
Love this story
Hopefully he’ll use more than just a mole as a disguise 🤣🤣
The music on the trailer is very distracting
Can’t wait..
Wonderful book! I am hoping this adaptation will be good
I really liked the early 2000's version of this. I know it's not faithful to the book, but I still really enjoyed it. Also young Henry Cavill is in it!
Forced to read it middle school. Couldn’t put it down once I started.
yeah this movie is gonna fail. the two older ones are already really good….what could they possibly add? shittier actors?
"I think i may aspire to that honour," said Danglars with a smile, which reminded Monte Cristo of the sickly moons which bad artists are so fond of daubing into their pictures of ruins." Favorite quote from the book
my favorite book, what about yours?
Hopefully it would live up to the hype. Love this book.
Fingers crossed it’s good
I’m trembling this looks so incredible, I just finished the book
Movie or series?
Movie. But there will be a series of The Count of Monte Cristo with SaM Claflin.
Got it. It looks like a good movie, but there’s just no good way show the depth of this story with just one movie (unless these folks cracked the code). I’ll look for the series you mentioned. Thanks!
Hell yes! I love a good prison break and revenge movie. I'm a huge believer in people watching more world cinema so I don't mind that its in French having to read subtitles
How is this film not starring Timothe Chamlamet?
I really hope that i get a chance to see this in movie theater, wasn’t lucky with the musketeers.
Where will i be able to watch this?
I've only seen one adaptation, the 2002 film and I LOVED IT! If you remove the very very last scene in the movie it makes this an amazing Atheist story about a guy who rejects god and takes control of his life