Disney may be responsible for making the name Nemo more synonymous with an adorable lost fish instead of the mysterious submarine captain, but now the studio is looking to right that wrong. Disney Plus has announced Nautilus, an original TV series which will reveal the secret origin story of Captain Nemo.
Nemo is the nautical adventurer who originally hails from Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. As per Deadline, Nautilus will depict Nemo as “an Indian prince robbed of his birthright and family, a prisoner of the East India Company, and a man bent on revenge against the forces which have taken everything from him.” However, “once he sets sail with his ragtag crew on board the awe-inspiring Nautilus, he not only battles with his enemy, he also discovers a magical underwater world.”
Described as a 10-part live-action drama series, Nautilus is written and executively produced by James Dormer (Beowulf: Return to the Shieldland) and is co-produced by Moonriver TV’s Xavier Marchand and Seven Stories’ Anand Tucker. The series also features Disney’s Johanna Devereaux as an EP. Filming is due to take place in the U.K. in early 2022.
This is one of three U.K.-based series that Disney just announced this Monday. The other two include Culprits, a darkly comic heist series starring Nathan Stewart-Jarett, and Wedding Season, a romcom action thriller led by Alita: Battle Angel‘s Rose Salazar. These latter two are being pegged as Star Originals, meaning they’ll debut under the adult-oriented D+ banner that’s yet to launch in the States. It’s unclear if Nautilus is being pitched as another one of these, although it sounds more family-friendly.
Along with these three announcements, Disney Plus said that it is aiming to create 50 European productions for the platform by 2024. No casting details for Nautilus are available as yet, but Captain Nemo has previously been played over the years by the likes of James Mason (1954’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea), Naseeruddin Shah (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), and Faran Tahir (Once Upon a Time).