‘Nautilus’: AMC Saves Captain Nemo Series After Disney+ Cancellation

AMC has saved the Captain Nemo series Nautilus after it was scrapped by Disney+ earlier this summer. Inspired by Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, the live-action Captain Nemo origin story will premiere on AMC and AMC+ in 2024.

AMC announced on Monday, October 30 that it licensed the U.S. and Canadian linear and streaming rights to Nautilus, a 10-episode live-action series inspired by Jules Verne’s beloved Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, from Disney Entertainment. An exact release date for its AMC and AMC+ 2024 debut will be announced at a later time.

The prequel series, which is being called an “epic adventure,” filmed in Australia in 2022 and had already wrapped production when Disney decided not to move forward with it in August 2023 during a period of cost-cutting at the studio. The Spiderwick Chronicles suffered the same fate, but it, too, was saved by The Roku Channel in early October.

Nautilus tells the origin story of the iconic Captain Nemo: an Indian Prince robbed of his birthright and family, a prisoner of the East India Mercantile Company, and a man bent on revenge against the forces that have taken everything from him. Starring as Captain Nemo is Shazad Latif (pictured above as the titular sailor), joined by co-stars Georgia Flood, Thierry Fremont, and Céline Menville and guest stars Richard E. Grant, Anna Torv, and Noah Taylor.

Viewers previously saw Latif as Dr. Henry Jekyll in Penny Dreadful, Ash Tyler in Star Trek: Discovery, and Sonny Chandra in Rogue Agent. Grant can be seen in Loki Season 1, and Torv recently guest starred as Tess in The Last of Us in addition to her starring role in Australia’s The Newsreader.

The series is developed and produced by Moonriver TV’s Xavier Marchand and Seven Stories’ Anand Tucker, is written and executive produced by James Dormer and is executive produced by Johanna Devereaux, Chris Loveall, Colleen Woodcock, and Daisy Gilbert. Cameron Welsh serves as producer and Michael Matthews is the lead director of this epic adventure series.

AMC said Nautilus will appeal to fans of Interview With the Vampire and Mayfair Witches and other AMC/AMC+ original series. It’s calling the Nautilus network and streaming debut a “special televised event.”

“Nautilus is a big, sweeping drama that is sure to appeal to fans of our Anne Rice Immortal Universe and other buzzy and fan-forward series like Orphan Black: Echoes,” Ben Davis, executive vice president of original programming for AMC Networks and AMC Studios, said in a statement. “We are looking forward to bringing it to AMC+ and AMC as a special television event next year.”

Xavier Marchand, CEO, Moonriver, and Anand Tucker, CEO, Seven Stories, said, “We are so thrilled to present the epic adventures of Captain Nemo and his legendary submarine The Nautilus alongside the other incredible AMC universes. The series will take viewers on a breathtaking journey with Nemo and his crew, battling terrifying creatures and the dark forces of the British Empire.”

James Dormer, executive producer and writer, added, “I am hugely excited that the efforts of everyone involved in the making of the show will be seen on such a prestigious network.”

Nautilus is distributed by Disney Entertainment and acknowledges the support from the Australian Government’s Location Incentive and from the Queensland Government via Screen Queensland’s Production Attraction Strategy.

Nautilus, Series Premiere, 2024, AMC and AMC+