In 1954, Disney released the live-action film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, based on the Jules Verne novel of the same name. The movie told the story of a ship that is sent out to investigate a number of mysterious sinkings. While many think that the thing responsible might be a monstrous narwhal, they discover a futuristic ship run by the mysterious Captain Nemo. The movie starred Kurt Douglas as Ned Land, James Mason as Captain Nemo, and Paul Lukas as Professor Pierre Aronnax.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is one of the most popular and famous novels of all time, and the Disney movie was beloved by fans. In 2021, Disney announced that it would be creating a series called Nautilus. The show would tell the origin story of Captain Nemo. It would be a completely new story that would air exclusively on Disney+ UK.
Unfortunately, we have learned that Nautilus has found itself on the Disney+ chopping block. According to a report from Deadline, Disney has decided to cancel the series, despite already filming it. The show began filming in Australia in early 2022. However, Disney does not want to completely give up on the series and is shopping it to other studios.
Based on the Jules Verne’s classic novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Nautilus is a 10-part live-action adventure series about the origin story of Verne’s iconic character, Captain Nemo, and his famous submarine, The Nautilus.
In this retelling, Nemo (Shazad Latif) is an Indian Prince robbed of his birth right and family, a prisoner of the East India Company and a man bent on revenge against the forces which have taken everything from him. But 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.
This is not the first show that Disney has decided to cancel after already filming it. Just a few days ago, it was announced that Disney had also decided to cancel The Spiderwick Chronicles. The series has also been filmed and Disney is in talks with Paramount — the studio who made the original movie — to buy it for its streaming platform, Paramount+.
Disney’s decision to cut both of these shows after filming had already been completed is a move started by Disney CEO Bob Iger to stop the bleeding at Disney+. The streamer is less than four years old, but has cost the studio billions of dollars. In May, Iger announced major changes coming to Disney+, with the studio cutting $3 billion in spending on non-sports-related content.
In addition to canceling series before they air, Disney has been canceling Disney+ original shows left and right. This includes National Treasure: Edge of History, Turner & Hooch, Willow, Big Shot, Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, The Mysterious Benedict Society, and most recently, Doogie Kamealoha, M.D. Most of these shows have been removed from Disney+ altogether.
Bob Iger has said that the studio will be taking a closer look at the content it produces and choosing quality over quantity. He has said that Marvel and Lucasfilm will also see a slow-down in the shows created for Disney+. All of these decisions are in conjunction with Iger’s effort to cut $5.5 billion from Disney’s overall spending budget.
Nautilus was set to star Shazad Latif as Nemo, Jacob Collins-Levy as Youngblood, Cameron Cuffe as Pitt, Benedict Hardie as Cuff, Georgia Flood as Humility Lucas, and Thierry Frémont as Gustave Benoit.
