Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours

Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours (Around the World in 80 Days) is a French novel by Jules Verne (1828-1905)[1]

The novel

One of Verne's most acclaimed works, the novel tells the story of Phileas Fogg of London who, with his newly employed French valet Passepartout, attempts to circumnavigate the world in 80 days on a wager of £20,000 set by his friends at the Reform Club.

First published in French as a serial in 1872, and then as a book on 30 January 1873 and first translated into English

Translations and adaptations

Like many of Vernes books (novels, plays, short stories, autobiographical accounts, poetry, songs and scientific, artistic and literary studies), Around the World in 80 Days has been adapted for the stage, film and television and comic books.

There have been a few stage versions including:

Orson Welles's 1946 musical version, with a book by Orson Welles and music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The expensive musical extravaganza opened on Broadway in May 1946 but closed after 75 performances[2].

A stage musical version[[3]] written by Sig Herzig [4], with lyrics by Harold Adamson and Sammy Fain and music by Victor Young [5]

A straight stage version by Mark Brown[6], first produced at the Shakespearean Festival, Utah in 2001, then all oveder the world (including South Africa). The text was first published by Dramatic Publishing in 2007[7].

Possibly the best known of these adaptations has been Michael Todd's 1956 epic film starring David Niven, Cantinflas and Shirley Maclean in one of the most expensive movies ever made. Directed by Michael Anderson directed. The film won five Oscars, including Academy Award for Best Picture

Another film version, an American action adventure comedy that stars Jackie Chan ("Passepartout"), Steve Coogan ("Phileas Fogg") and Cécile de France, was made in 2004 [8]

In 2021 the BBC made an eight part TV series, with David Tennant as "Phileas Fogg" and Ibrahim Koma as "Passepartout"[9]. Shot in South Africa and Romania[10], the BBC series features a few South African performers and crew members, including Nicholas Ellenbogen, Susan Danford, Nicky Rebelo, Sean Cameron Michael, Hein de Vries, Birrie le Roux.