A reminder that The Count of Monte Cristo is inspired by the mixed race father of the author, General Alexander Dumas, who also had a somewhat fascinating life riding currents of fate during the French revolution.
Thomas Alexandre Dumas is a fascinating character, not only because he rose from slavery to a general of Napoleon, but he was also a spectacular, real swashbuckler known for daring action.
I have no idea why there's still no big movie about him.
I'm relying on memory and it's a little pedantic, but did he actually ever experience life as a slave? His mother was a slave, but as I recall his deadbeat and slaveowner father accepted him as his son and introduced him to French society early on, but I'm not sure if he dragged his feet before doing so in the French colonies before returning to France.
I have no idea why there's still no big movie about him.