In an article in L'Écho de Paris dated 2 February 1920, Pierre Benoit explained: From 1892 to 1907, I lived in Tunisia and in Algeria.

Ever since my childhood, I had heard talk of Tuaregs, and my imagination was aroused by certain sombre stories, especially that of a mission into the African centre by two Frenchmen of whom only one returned, without anyone ever learning how his companion had perished.

The Italian-made peplum film Hercules and the Conquest of Atlantis (Ercole alla conquista di Atlantide, 1961), directed by Vittorio Cottafavi, drew heavily on the plot and characters of the book, having Queen Antinea capture Hercules and his companion Androcles, and imprisoning them in her red-lined underground palace.

Androcles takes the Saint-Avit role and tries to murder Hercules, who (unsurprisingly) is able to resist Antinea's wiles and eventually saves the day.

A European co-production, Journey Beneath the Desert also filmed in 1961 was directed by Edgar G. Ulmer who replaced an ailing Frank Borzage.

In 1992, another film adaptation of the novel was made, L'Atlantide, directed by Bob Swaim and starring Tchéky Karyo, Jean Rochefort, Anna Galiena, and the famous Spanish actor, Fernando Rey.