Skip to content
Papillon is based on the international best-selling autobiographic book of the same name, as well as “Banco”, and follows the epic story of Henri “Papillon” Charrière (Charlie Hunnam), a safecracker from the Parisian underworld who is framed for murder and condemned to life in the notorious penal colony on Devil’s Island. Determined to regain his freedom, he forms an unlikely alliance with quirky convicted counterfeiter Louis Dega (Rami Malek – Bohemian Rhapsody), who in exchange for protection, agrees to finance Papillon’s escape, ultimately resulting in a bond of lasting friendship.
I’ve still not seen the Steve McQueen original, even though it was repeated again recently on TV. It’s on my endless to-do pile, but now this is coming out, I think I’ll hang back on that for now.
Given that Daniel Craig is coming to an end for his tenure as James Bond, with the 25th film starting production in December 2018, and being slated for an October 2019 release, could Hunnam take over? He seems very Craig-like in this trailer.
Papillon is released in the US on August 24th, but of yet there’s no UK date.
Director: Michael Noer
Screenplay: Aaron Guzikowski
Novel: Henri Charrière
Also stars: Tommy Flanagan, Eve Hewson, Roland Møller, Michael Socha, Christopher Fairbank, Brian Vernel, Nina Senicar, Nicholas Asbury, Ian Beattie
Check out the trailer below and click on the poster for the full-size image.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.