Netflix Officially Confirms Dark Re-Imagining Of Disney Classic In Live-Action

Published Sep 25, 2026, 12:44 PM EDT

Jeff Dodge (he/him), a published author and graduate of Western Washington University, has been a TV news editor for many years and has had the chance to interview multiple reality show stars, including Randy Jackson, Nick Cannon, Heidi Klum, Mel B and John Cena. Fun Fact: he’s been to every single Idol Live! Tour.

This fall, Netflix is releasing a reimagining of the classic Disney movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and first-look images have just been revealed for the dark interpretation.

The story originated as a novel by Victor Hugo in the 1830s and centers on Quasimodo, a bell-ringer at Notre-Dame Cathedral. The Disney adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame came out in 1996 and is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. In recent years, Disney attempted to develop a live-action remake, but the project has since been put on hold.

However, Netflix is coming out with its own version of Hugo's novel called The Hunchback: Soul of Paris on November 27. This live-action film will see the titular character be hunted down to take part in medical experiments amid a cholera outbreak in Paris in 1830.

As a result, Quasimodo finds himself torn between political upheaval in the city and a love that might never materialize.

Vanity Fair France released five first-look images from the movie that hint at a much darker story than Disney fans are used to.

They feature the main characters from The Hunchback: Soul of Paris, including Quasimodo himself, who's seen in one photo with his back to the camera as he walks through a cavernous room in the cathedral. Another image shows him wearing a mask to cover his face when he's out in public.

Check out the images below:

Vincent Cassel, Karim Leklou, Benjamin Voisin, Daphné Patakia, Noémie Lvovsky, Sébastien Pouderoux, Eli Nachmani and Alexis Rosenstiehl star in The Hunchback: Soul of Paris, which is directed by Jean-François Richet, who just helmed the recent Jason Statham action thriller Mutiny and has also worked on Assault on Precinct 13, One Wild Moment, The Emperor of Paris and Plane.

Richet told Vanity Fair that his movie will address the "class struggle, the people, the elites, medicine, beauty and the beauty of the ugly" of the time period. There is a shocking "historical truth" presented in The Hunchback: "It's because they experimented on children that they found vaccines."

The filmmaker's vision also explores a "credible assumption" that Quasimodo is "based on a stonemason that the novelist would have met...rather than a real story."

“According to an English archivist, Adrian Glew, the character is based on a stonemason that the novelist would have met. We start from a credible assumption rather than a real story.

“It speaks of the struggle of classes, the people, the elites, medicine, beauty, the ugly, the beauty of the ugly...I also try to show that we are a somewhat Manichaean society. Before, it was more complex than a simple opposition between good and evil. There’s a shocking phrase in the film: 'It’s because they’ve experimented on children that they found vaccines.'”

Éric Besnard and Edgar Marie wrote the script for The Hunchback, with Clément Miserez and Matthieu Warter serving as producers.

After Hugo published his novel, numerous adaptations were created throughout the 1990s and 2000s.

Aside from the animated Disney film The Hunchback of Notre Dame (and direct-to-video sequel), there was also a silent film from Universal in 1923, William Dieterle's version in 1939 that starred Charles Laughton and earned two Oscar nominations, and a CBS film in 1982 with Anthony Hopkins in the title role.

There have also been several ballets and stage productions based on The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Now Netflix is just two months away from releasing its own version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, one that promises to show the gritty and dark realities of the time and that is much different than what Disney has offered from this property.

The Hunchback: Soul of Paris will be released Friday, November 27, 2026, on Netflix.