In 1997, Jean-Jacques Beineix directed a 27-minute television documentary, "Assigné à résidence" (released on DVD in the U.S. as "Locked-in Syndrome" with English subtitles), that captured Bauby in his paralyzed state, as well as the process of his book's composition.[5]
Artist/director Julian Schnabel's feature-film adaptation of the book was released in 2007, starring Mathieu Amalric as Bauby. The film was nominated for several international awards and won best director that year at the Cannes Film Festival.[6][7][8][9]
In 2019, The Dallas Opera was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts grant to commission The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, an opera based on Le Scaphandre et le Papillon by Jean-Dominique Bauby which was composed by Joby Talbot with a libretto by Gene Scheer.[10][11] It premiered on November 3, 2023 after facing production delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [12]