From Apple Original Films and Sony Pictures, Napoleon will be released in American theaters on Nov. 22 by Sony Pictures and will stream on Apple TV+ at a later date.
Written by David Scarpa (who ha scripted Scott’s 2017 All The Money in the World, the lavish period film clocks in at a meaty two hours and 38 minutes (shorter by one hour than Scorsese’s epic Western, The Killers of Flower Moon)
It stars Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix as the French military commander and later despot Napoleon Bonaparte, with Oscar nominee Vanessa Kirby as his consort, Empress Joséphine.
The movie charts Bonaparte’s meteoric rise from lowly artillery commander to Napoleon I, emperor of France, and takes in notable military engagements such as the battles of Austerlitz and Waterloo
Ridley Scott might have made a mistake when he revealed in August 202 that he has a four-and-a-half hour director’s cut of Napoleon that explores more of Empress Joséphine, hoping to release it in theaters and on Apple TV+, after the initial theatrical release.
Judging by what unfolds on screen, you an easily see Napoleon as a mini-series, or a four hour long epic.
Tale of Duels
Scott has been intrigued with duels as a socio-cultural phenom ever since his directorial debut un 1977 with The Duellists, which world premiered at the Cannes Film Fest and launched him as a major talent to watch.
In 2021, Scott directed The Last Duel, starring Jodie Comer. The historian Lorris Chevalier who worked on The Last Duel became the historical advisor.
Titles:
Initially, the project was called Kitbag, based on Napoleon Bonaparte’s quote, “Every French soldier carries a Marshal’s baton in their knapsack.”
Casting:
Joaquin Phenix was reportedly attached to star as the French general and emperor Napoléon, reuniting him with the director after Gladiator in 2000, for which he earned his first (Supporting Actor) nod.
Scott had Phoenix and another actor he has refused to reveal in mind to play Napoleón, but felt “blown away” by Phoenix’s remarkable performance in Joker (2019) and concluded that Phoenix could be an “amazing asset” for Napoleon, both creatively and commercially,
“Napoleon is a man I’ve always been fascinated by”, Scott said in a statement. “He came out of nowhere to rule everything — but all the while he was waging a romantic war with his adulterous wife Josephine. He conquered the world to try to win her love, and when he couldn’t, he conquered it to destroy her, and destroyed himself in the process.”
The Last Duel actress Jodie Comer was Scott’s first choice to play Empress Josephine. However, she departed from the film due to scheduling changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic Vanessa Kirby, Oscar nominee for Pieces of Woman, was announced as her replacement.
Historical frame
Opening with the macabre execution of Marie Antoinette in 1793, David Scarpa’s smartly focused screenplay covers Napoleon’s life from his career-making role in ending the Siege of Toulon, to his death in exile on Saint Helena almost 30 years later.
The half-a-dozen-or-so battles depicted provide Napoleon with its blockbuster thrills (Apple financed the film for a reported $130m), but the film is as much a character piece about Bonaparte and his voracious wife Josephine, their unconventional relationship a public balancing act between power and love.
