Le Comte de Monte Cristo, the new French blockbuster by Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte – screenwriters on the last successful adaptation of Les Trois Mousquetaires – is one of the best start-ups of the summer season. Behind this literary and cinematic success, the ambivalent figure of the Comte, in search of lost happiness and consumed by the idea of taking justice into his own hands, continues to fascinate. Here’s how.
Released on June 28 – a Friday, so to speak – The Count of Monte Cristo has already sold over 3 million tickets in its first two weeks! The film’s success is also reflected on the Tiktok social networking site (1,400 publications to date about the film) and in bookstores.
According to the Syndicat des libraires, sales of Alexandre Dumas’ masterpiece increased fourfold between June and July 2024, compared with the previous year. According to Blanche Cerquiglini, publisher and head of the Folio classique collections, Gallimard expects sales to increase tenfold during the film’s theatrical run.
But beyond the film’s success in theaters, what explains the attraction of this story, which is much darker than that of The Three Musketeers? And what if the key was to be found in its hero, or rather its anti-hero, Edmond Dantès, prototype of the superheroes that Marvel and DC Comics would later spawn?
A timeless injustice
The figure of the Count of Monte Cristo resonates with key themes in today’s public debate, such as distrust of the elite and justice in particular, the fascinating and corruptible power of money, the definition of friendship, the fight for equality and against injustice, or even more luminously, the quest for happiness and the compelling need for self-fulfillment.
For thebook, published in the summer of 1844, begins where Walt Disney and company prefer to end their stories: with a happy ending. Edmond Dantès, first mate on the ship Le Pharaon, has a brilliant future ahead of him, both professionally (he’s just been promoted to captain) and romantically. Not to mention the fact that, in addition to true love (with Mercedes Herrera), Edmond Dantès has three very good friends (Danglars, Fernand Mondego and Gaspard Caderousse)… or so he thinks.
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Featured Photo : © Chapter 2 – Pathé France
