Australia’s Stan Boards Captain Nemo Series ‘Nautilus’ After Queensland Shoot

Jesse Whittock
·3-min read

Australian streamer Stan has joined the crew of Nautilus after the Shazad Latif-starrer shot in Queensland.

All episodes of the Captain Nemo story will “soon” dock at the service, dropping all at once. Stan tapped up Disney Entertainment for the Aussie rights.

More from Deadline

The series stars Latif (Star Trek: Discovery) and Australian actress Georgia Flood (Apples Never Fall), alongside Thierry Frémont and Céline Menville, with guest appearances from Richard E Grant, Anna Torv and Noah Taylor. Australian cast also includes Tyrone Ngatai, Andrew Shaw, Benedict Hardie, Jacob Collins-Levy, Luke Arnold and Damien Garvey. Shooting took place in Australia, with financial support provided through several local and nation incentives.

Nautilus follows Jules Verne’s epic story Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea from the perspective of Captain Nemo, an Indian prince robbed of his birthright and made prisoner of the East India Mercantile Company, hell bent on revenge. He sets sail with a ragtag crew on the awe-inspiring Nautilus battle his enemies, and finds a magical underworld along the way.

Disney+ UK had initially ordered the show, but decided to axe it in August last year as part of its content removal plan, which cut costs at the expense of program launches. Since then, AMC and Prime Video acquired the rights for the U.S. and UK/Ireland, respectively. Nautilus launched on SVT Play in Sweden in June 2024 and France Televisions two months later.

“A sweeping sci-fi drama adapted from an iconic and well-loved novel, Nautilus is an exciting new addition to our content slate,” said Stan’s Chief Content Officer, Cailah Scobie. “As always, Stan is committed to supporting the Australian screen industry and bringing premium content to the platform, and Nautilus’ high calibre is a testament to the hundreds of talented cast and creatives who worked on the series during its production in Queensland. We thank Screen Queensland, Disney and the producers Moonriver TV and Seven Stories, and look forward to sharing Nautilus with Australian audiences when it sets sail soon.”

The ten-part series was developed and produced by Moonriver TV’s Xavier Marchand and Seven Stories’ Anand Tucker. James Dormer is writer and executive produces along with Johanna Devereaux, Chris Loveall, Colleen Woodcock and Daisy Gilbert. Cameron Welsh is producer and Michael Matthews is the lead director.

The Australian government’s Location Incentive provided support, as did the Queensland government via Screen Queensland’s Production Attraction Strategy. Digital and visual effects completed in Western Australia with support from Screenwest and the WA post-production, digital and visual effects incentive.

Screen Queensland CEO Jacqui Feeney said the show is “one of the largest to me made” in the state, while Marchand and Tucker added in a statement that “the professionalism, craftsmanship and excellence of the cast and crews from Queensland and other parts of Australia were second to none.”

Australia’s various states have been competing to attract productions from abroad in the hope of providing more work for crews and cast and bringing in revenue to local ecosystems. However, the country remains unclear of how content quotas, which were due to be implemented over the summer but have not been, will impact the appetites of global streamers.

Here’s the Stan trailer for Nautilus.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Latest stories