Sagaspedia
What changed on screen
What changed on screen, title by title: 47 in total. Tap a cover to open it. Titles you haven't marked as read stay locked so nothing gets spoiled.
- Referencenod to comics or other movies
- Cameoa familiar face shows up
- Setupplanted now, pays off later
- Behind the scenesproduction trivia
- ChangeThe childhood was added
The book opens with Lupin already 20. The 2004 film starts with his childhood and his father's death, which aren't in this book.
source ↗ - ChangeClarisse changes families
In the book, Clarisse is Baron d'Étigues's daughter. In the film, Eva Green plays Clarisse de Dreux-Soubise, Lupin's cousin.
source ↗ - ChangeA 1913 epilogue
The film adds an ending set in 1913, tied to Archduke Franz Ferdinand. None of that is in the book.
source ↗ - ReferenceThe key to The Hollow Needle
This is the book where Leblanc reveals how the secret of the kings' treasure from The Hollow Needle came to Lupin.
source ↗
- ChangeThe arrest at sea
In the book, Inspector Ganimard arrests Lupin as he steps off an ocean liner. The 2004 film uses the ship to introduce the adult Lupin at a party on board.
source ↗ - ChangeThe necklace changes hands
In The Queen's Necklace, Lupin himself steals the jewel as a boy. The film moves the theft into his childhood; the Netflix series makes it the necklace that frames Assane's father.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesHolmes under another name
The last story features Sherlock Holmes himself. After objections from Arthur Conan Doyle's side, later editions renamed him Herlock Sholmes.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesIt started in a magazine
The first story ran in Je sais tout magazine on July 15, 1905. The book collected all nine stories in 1907.
source ↗
- ReferenceWilson instead of Watson
Sholmes's loyal sidekick is named Wilson, a straight parody of Conan Doyle's Dr. Watson.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe movies gave the name back
A 1910 German film serial adapted the book and called the detective Sherlock Holmes outright, thanks to German copyright rules.
source ↗
- ChangeNo schoolboy detective
The book revolves around Isidore Beautrelet, a student who takes on Lupin. The 2004 film drops Beautrelet and keeps only the treasure.
source ↗ - ChangeThe crucifix trail
In the book, the road to the kings of France's treasure runs through a castle that's a decoy. In the film, the hunt hinges on three crucifixes scattered across France.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesLeblanc's house
Leblanc owned a home in Étretat, where the book's rock needle stands. It's now the Clos Lupin museum, and the Netflix series shot a whole episode in the area.
source ↗
- Behind the scenesClues: L. M. and 813
The only clues are a cigarette case marked L. M. and a small label reading 813.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesSplit in two during the war
In 1917 the book was reissued in two volumes, with the text altered to play up anti-German themes during World War I.
source ↗
- ReferenceInspired by a real scandal
Leblanc drew on the Panama scandals of 1892 and 1893, which dragged French politicians into corruption.
source ↗ - ReferenceHidden in plain sight
Hiding the document inside an everyday object in plain view comes from Edgar Allan Poe's The Purloined Letter.
source ↗
- ReferenceName-checked on the show
One of the stories, Edith Swan-Neck, is among the book references the Netflix series Lupin scatters through its episodes.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesOne extra story in English
The French edition has nine stories; the English translation came out with ten.
source ↗
- Behind the scenesEnglish came first
The book came out in English in 1914; French readers didn't get it in book form until 1920.
source ↗ - ReferenceLupin with a Spanish name
Here Lupin lives as Don Luis Perenna, a Spanish nobleman, a name he uses again in later books.
source ↗
- Behind the scenesLupin was added later
The novel began as a war story without Lupin. The thief was worked into a later edition, and the book now counts as No. 8 in the series.
source ↗ - ReferenceWritten mid-war
Leblanc published the book in 1916, in the middle of World War I, with the German invasion at the heart of the plot.
source ↗
- Behind the scenesLupin shows up late
The hero is Captain Belval; Lupin, as Don Luis Perenna, only really steps in around the middle of the book.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesAnother English title
It was also published in English as The Return of Arsène Lupin, a title later reused for another book in the series.
source ↗
- Behind the scenesA signature on film
It all starts when Véronique spots, in a movie, the signature she used as a child painted on a wall.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesLupin goes horror
It's the darkest book in the series, with a horror mood, prophecies and a string of deaths on a Breton island.
source ↗
- Behind the scenesWho Prince Rénine is
Rénine is Lupin under another name, and the book makes that clear to the reader from the start.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesA real partner
Hortense Daniel works all eight cases alongside Rénine.
source ↗
- Behind the scenesThree English titles
It came out in English as The Damsel with Green Eyes, The Girl with the Green Eyes and even Arsène Lupin, Super Sleuth.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesBook 15
In the series count it's the 15th Lupin book, published in 1927.
source ↗
- Behind the scenesLupin turns detective
Here Lupin goes by Jim Barnett, who runs a detective agency that works for free, more or less.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesOther English titles
In English it was also published as Jim Barnett Intervenes and Arsène Lupin Intervenes.
source ↗
- Behind the scenesThe Melamare case
In English the book is also known as The Melamare Mystery, after the family at the center of the plot.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesPublished in 1929
It's the 18th Lupin book, from 1929, and one Principis released in Brazil in its Lupin II box set.
source ↗
- Behind the scenesAn estate's name
La Barre-y-va is the name of the Normandy estate where the story takes place.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe English title
In English it was published as The Barre-y-va Mystery. It's No. 19 in the series, from 1931.
source ↗
- Behind the scenesTwo English titles
In English it was published as The Woman with Two Smiles and as The Double Smile.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesA double year
It came out in 1933, the same year as Victor of the Vice Squad: two Lupin books in one year.
source ↗
- Behind the scenesThe hunter takes the lead
The book follows Victor, a vice squad cop, rather than Lupin.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesSame name as another book
One English edition was called The Return of Arsène Lupin, the title earlier given to The Golden Triangle.
source ↗
- ReferenceJoséphine returns
It's the direct sequel to The Countess of Cagliostro, published over a decade later, bringing back the villain of Lupin's first love story.
source ↗ - ReferenceNodded to on Netflix
The Lupin series cites this book among the Leblanc references in its episodes.
source ↗
- Behind the scenesThe missing chapter
The 1941 edition left out chapter 9. The full text wasn't restored until 2002, in a Korean edition.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesSerialized first
Before the book, the story ran as a serial in 1939, and the volume reached stores after Leblanc's death.
source ↗
- Behind the scenesFound by his granddaughter
Leblanc wrote the book around 1936. His granddaughter, Florence Boespflug-Leblanc, found the manuscript in 2011.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesPublished in 2012
The book finally reached stores in 2012, more than 70 years after the author's death.
source ↗
Locked. These details give away parts of the title. Mark it as seen to unlock.
Original text by Sagaspedia. Posters: The Movie Database (TMDB); character photos via Wikipedia. This site uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB. All trademarks and titles mentioned belong to their respective owners. Streaming availability may change.
As an Amazon Associate, Sagaspedia earns from qualifying purchases.