Star-Studded ‘Count of Monte Cristo’ Adaptation to Premiere on Free Broadcast TV in 2026

Fans of The Count of Monte Cristo won’t be waiting and hoping for a good new adaptation much longer.

PBS just announced that its star-studded adaptation of the iconic Alexandre Dumas novel will premiere on TV in March 2026—with major talent behind the wheel.

Oscar and Palme d’Or winning director Bille August, who hails from Denmark, will be directing the adaptation. The protagonist Edmond Dantès will be played by Sam Claflin (Daisy Jones and the Six), a sailor falsely accused of treason and sent to a French prison who later becomes a cunning and manipulative man when he assumes the identity of the Count of Monte Cristo—after some help from fellow prisoner Abbé Faria (Jeremy Irons).

The Count of Monte Cristo is one of the most famous novels ever written, widely considered a classic of literature worldwide when it released in 1846. It has been told and retold a thousand times, with countless adaptations and remixes throughout the years, from straight adaptations to kung-fu movies based on the same plot.

Funnily enough, series star Jeremy Irons told Variety that the castle used in production while the crew was out filming is the same one that Dumas mentioned in the novel’s original text.

The Count of Monte Cristo airs on PBS and the PBS Masterpiece on Prime Video app on Wednesday, March 22, at 9 P.M. CST.