The Count of Monte Cristo (French: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo) is a 2024 French historical action adventure film based on the 1844 novel by Alexandre Dumas. Adapted and directed by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière, the film stars Pierre Niney as Edmond Dantès.
The Count of Monte Cristo had its world premiere at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on May 22, 2024, and was released theatrically in France a month later by Pathé. With a budget estimated at €42.9 million, the film was the most expensive French production of 2024. It sold over 9 million admissions in France, where it was the second highest-grossing film of 2024 and grossed $100 million worldwide.
It also became the biggest success for Pathé since Bienvenue Chez Les Ch'tis (2008).
Contents
Plot
In 1815, sailor Edmond Dantès defies orders to rescue a shipwrecked woman from the Mediterranean Sea. The woman, Angèle, carries a letter from the exiled Napoleon, which Captain Danglars seizes. Upon reaching Marseille, Danglars reports Edmond to shipowner Morrel, but Morrel dismisses Danglars for neglecting his duty to aid survivors and promotes Edmond in his place.
Edmond returns home to share the news with his fiancée, Mercédès Herrera, and her cousin, Fernand de Morcerf, who harbors feelings for her. Edmond asks Fernand to be his best man at their upcoming wedding. However, on the wedding day, Edmond is arrested and accused of being a Bonapartist. Brought before Gérard de Villefort, Marseille's deputy prosecutor, Edmond maintains his innocence, prompting Villefort to consider releasing him. However, Edmond reveals he knows Angèle's identity. Villefort detains him further while interrogating Danglars and Fernand.
Villefort conspires with Danglars and Fernand to ensure Edmond's imprisonment. Angèle, Villefort's sister, demands Edmond's release and threatens to expose Villefort's affair with Danglars' wife. To silence her, Villefort enlists Danglars to eliminate Angèle. Edmond is imprisoned in the Château d'If, where he meets fellow inmate Abbé Faria, who educates him in languages, science, and culture over eight years. Faria also reveals the location of a vast treasure on the island of Monte Cristo. Before their planned escape, Faria is fatally injured by a tunnel collapse. Edmond takes Faria's body to his cell, hides in the burial sack in his place, and, after being thrown into the sea, escapes and swims to freedom.
Returning to Marseille, Edmond learns his father has died, and Mercédès has married Fernand and moved to Paris. Edmond journeys to Monte Cristo, where he finds the hidden treasure. A year later, he reemerges as the Count of Monte Cristo, intent on revenge. He locates Angèle, sold by Danglars into prostitution, now dying. She reveals she once tried to expose Villefort's crimes, including his attempt to bury his illegitimate son, André, alive. Angèle rescued André, placing him in an orphanage. Edmond takes André under his wing, renaming him Prince Andrea Cavalcanti, and makes him a key player in his plans.
The Count orchestrates a series of schemes against his enemies. He stages a rescue of Fernand's son, Albert, earning Fernand's trust. Through Albert, the Count gains introductions to Danglars and Villefort. He also reunites with Mercédès, who recognizes him despite his changed appearance. Meanwhile, Edmond uses Andrea to charm Eugénie, Danglars's daughter, and introduces Haydée, a beautiful woman under his protection, encouraging her to captivate Albert.
Cast
Pierre Niney as Edmond Dantès / Lord Halifax / Abbé Busoni
Bastien Bouillon as Fernand de Morcerf
Anaïs Demoustier as Mercédès Herrera
Anamaria Vartolomei as Haydée
Amaya Ducellier as young Haydée
Laurent Lafitte as Gérard de Villefort
Pierfrancesco Favino as Abbé Faria
Patrick Mille as Danglars
Vassili Schneider as Albert de Morcerf
Julien de Saint Jean as Andrea
Julie de Bona as Victoria Danglars
Adèle Simphal as Angèle de Villefort
Marie Narbonne as Eugénie Danglars
Bernard Blancan as Louis Dantès
Production
The film is written and directed by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière and produced by Chapter 2 and Pathé Films. They were revealed to be working on the project in November 2020. It is co-produced by M6 Films, Fargo Films, Logical Content Ventures and Umedia.
With a budget estimated in €42.9 million, The Count of Monte Cristo is the most expensive French film of 2024.
Casting
Pierre Niney was cast in the lead role in February 2023. In July 2023, Anaïs Demoustier, Laurent Lafitte, Anamaria Vartolomei, Bastien Bouillon, Patrick Mille, Vassili Schneider, and Julien de Saint Jean were cast in the film.
Release
The film was selected to be screened out of competition at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 22 May 2024, and earned a nearly 11-minute standing ovation at the end of its screening.
It was theatrically released by Pathé in France on 28 June 2024, and had its international debut at the 2nd Mediterrane Film Festival on 22 June 2024. It also played at the 28th Fantasia International Film Festival on 19 July 2024, and has been scheduled to screen in a gala presentation at the 2024 Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival. It made its U.S. premiere at the Hamptons International Film Festival on 11 October 2024. Samuel Goldwyn Films released the film in theaters on 20 December 2024 in the United States.
It was featured in the Limelight section of the 54th International Film Festival Rotterdam screened in February 2025.
In 2026, the BBC acquired the British rights to the film, splitting it into a miniseries of four 45-minute episodes: it was released with English subtitles on BBC iPlayer and BBC Four on 2 May 2026.
Music
The music of the film is composed by Jérôme Rebotier and released by Milan Records.
Reception
Box office
The film had sold 9 million tickets in France and grossed $100 million worldwide. It finished 2024 as the second-most watched film in French cinemas in the year.
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 96% of 67 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The website's consensus reads: "Condensing Alexandre Dumas' hefty tome into a brisk and lavishly appointed action-adventure, this French adaptation of The Count of Monte-Cristo hits the sweet spot with rapier-like precision." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 75 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. On AlloCiné, the film received an average rating of 3.6 out of 5, based on 40 reviews from French critics and an average viewer rating of 4.5/5 based on over 3300 reviews. In fact, the film is highest-rated French language film of all time by viewers on AlloCiné.
Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times called it "stirringly acted and gorgeously filmed, this swashbuckler leaves previous versions of Dumas's famous revenge saga in the dust". Wendy Ide of The Guardian rated it 4/5, noting it was "directed with verve and acted with gusto." In another review for Screen International, Ide wrote: "This latest version of the much-adapted tale is not about taking filmmaking risks or storytelling liberties. It is true to the spirit of the source material, if not entirely true to the original story."Peter Debruge of Variety noted that the film could have competed for a best picture Oscar if it were released in English decades earlier. Stephany Bunbury described the film as "an old-fashioned swashbuckler stretched beyond conventional limits" in a Financial Times review but rated it 4/5.
In a review for The Times, Kevin Maher rated it 4/5 and highlighted: "'Will you do good, or will your heart fill with hate?' asks Edmond’s prison mate and mentor, Abbé Faria (Pierfrancesco Favino), early into Edmond’s 14-year stretch on the Château d’If island hellhole. It’s a beautiful line, emblematic of the novel’s ambiguity about the morality of revenge, and deftly delivered by the character-acting ace Favino."
In a review for The Hollywood Reporter, Jordan Mintzer wrote: "We’ve seen so many stories like this by now that, although The Count of Monte Cristo remains a true original of the genre, this pricey and polished version plays like any old revenge fantasy."
Deadline Hollywood's Pete Hammond wrote that "Delaporte and de la Patellliere have made something fresh and exciting from one of the oldest stories around" and noted the film was "one of the best" he saw at Cannes in 2024.
Accolades
On 11 September 2024, the film was 1 of 4 films shortlisted by France's Oscar committee for consideration as the country's submission for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards. The film also made the January longlist of 10 titles in the Best Film Not in the English Language category at the 2025 British Academy Film Awards. The film received 14 nominations for the 50th César Awards.