

Papillon
The greatest adventure of escape!
A man befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence on a dreadful prison island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.
TMDB
7.8/10
2,208 votes
IMDb
Not rated yet
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- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $12M
- Box office
- $53.3M
- Language
- English
- prison
- escape
- prison escape
- jungle
- solitary confinement
- based on memoir or autobiography
- remote island
- leper colony
- labor camp
- corrupt official
- french colonialism
- devil's island
Top billed cast


















Behind the camera
Director
Music
Produced in
United States of America, France
Where to watch
All optionsAvailability for United States. Provided by JustWatch through the TMDB API.
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Videos
Release dates
United StatesUS
- TheatricalPG16 Dec 1973
United KingdomGB
- Theatrical15London14 Mar 1974
AustraliaAU
- TheatricalM1 Jan 1974
BrazilBR
- Theatrical147 Jan 1974
DenmarkDK
- Theatrical1516 Dec 1973
FinlandFI
- TheatricalK-1616 Dec 1973
FranceFR
- Theatrical165 Feb 1974
GermanyDE
- Theatrical165 Sept 1975
HungaryHU
- Theatrical1216 Dec 1973
IrelandIE
- Theatrical1824 May 1974
ItalyIT
- Theatrical21 Feb 1974
NetherlandsNL
- Theatrical1220 Jun 1974
- TV12Nederland 224 Dec 2003
- Physical12DVD1 Jan 2010
Frequently asked questions
Papillon was released on 16 December 1973.
Audience reviews
6- J9/10
John Chard
1/26/2019
Grim and authentic telling of Henri "Papillon" Charrière's time at Devil's Island. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner (Planet Of The Apes/Patton), Papillon is adapted for the screen by Dalton Trumbo & Lorenzo Semple Jr. from notorious French felon Henri "Papillon" Charrière's own novel. It stars Steve McQueen (Papillon) & Dustin Hoffman (Louis Dega), is primarily shot in Jamaica & Spain with Fred J. Koenekamp (The…
- J9/10
John Chard
1/27/2019
Grim and authentic telling of Henri "Papillon" Charrière's time at Devil's Island. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner (Planet Of The Apes/Patton), Papillon is adapted for the screen by Dalton Trumbo & Lorenzo Semple Jr. from notorious French felon Henri "Papillon" Charrière's own novel. It stars Steve McQueen (Papillon) & Dustin Hoffman (Louis Dega), is primarily shot in Jamaica & Spain with Fred J. Koenekamp (The …
- A9/10
adorablepanic
4/9/2020
Although present for much of the filming, author Henri Charriere didn't live to see the release of PAPILLON (1973), which was based on his allegedly autobiographical novel. The veracity of what he recounts has been questioned virtually since the books' release in 1969, and the film takes further liberties, leaving one to wonder if this adventure picture is more fiction than fact. What one doesn't have to wonder about…
- W7/10
Wuchak
5/26/2022
_**The living hell of a penal colony in equatorial South America during the 30s**_ Henri Charrière’s account of his experiences from 1933-1945 involving the penal colony of Cayenne in French Guiana, South America, are chronicled, including solitary confinement, escape attempts, dwelling with Goajira Indians (in northeastern Columbia) and living on Devil's Island. Steve McQueen plays Henri, nicknamed Papillon (aka …
- C7/10
CinemaSerf
5/27/2023
Steve McQueen is superb as unlucky safe-cracker Henri "Papillon" Charrière, an innocent man convicted of murder and sentenced to imprisonment in the French penal colony at French Guiana. Once there, he learns quickly to appreciate the sheer brutality of a prison where any semblance of decency and humanity has been long abandoned. He allies himself with "Dega" (Dustin Hoffman), the rather wealthy, calculating, forger …
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