Apple Original 'Napoleon' will see theatrical release in November

AppleInsider

Ridley Scott historical action epic "Napoleon" starring Joaquin Phoenix will be released in theaters worldwide on November 22 and stream globally on Apple TV+ afterward.

Image Credit: Apple

The film tells the story of Napoleon and his rise to emperor, told through the lens of his volatile relationship with Josephine. In addition, it will highlight Napoleon as a military leader and war visionary through its depictions of his famous battles.

Oscar-winning "Joker" star Joaquin Phoenix stars as French emperor and military leader Napoleon Bonaparte. Vanessa Kirby, known for her role in Netflix's "The Crown," stars as Josephine.

The film will be released theatrically worldwide in partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Apple had signed the order for the project in early 2021, when it was still known under the name "Kitbag."

"Napoleon" joins Apple's growing slate of movies, including the Tom Hanks World War II drama, "Greyhound," crime thriller "Sharper," and Oscar-winner "CODA"

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Japhey

An American playing Napoleon and a Brit playing Josephine? I wonder what the French have to say about that. 

mpantone

Japhey said:

An American playing Napoleon and a Brit playing Josephine? I wonder what the French have to say about that. 

Probably not much. After all the same director casted the same actor to play a (fictitious) Roman emperor over two decades ago. And in that same film a Kiwi played a Spaniard. That film Gladiator won five Academy Awards (out of 12 nominations) including Best Picture and Best Actor in a Leading Role (2000).

Ridley Scott has a long distinguished track record at not looking at actors' passports. It's not like this is an unusual practice for this director. In fact, his first feature film The Duellists (1977) also was set in France. Scott casted many non-French actors for this movie; particularly amusing to this discussion, this film took place during the Napoleonic Wars. 

This is nothing new or unusual to Ridley Scott. For centuries Shakespearean theatre has been overly represented by British acting talent despite many of the stories taking place outside of the British Isles.

The French would probably have more complaints if this production had inaccurate costumes or the locations were blatantly wrong. However Sir Ridley isn't the type who just glosses over such details.

chutzpah

mpantone said:

The French would probably have more complaints if this production had inaccurate costumes or the locations were blatantly wrong. However Sir Ridley isn't the type who just glosses over such details.

I beg to differ.  Ridley Scott does whatever the hell he wants to do if he thinks it serves the film and the story better, and is quite open about that.  

AlexeyV

Japhey said:

An American playing Napoleon and a Brit playing Josephine? I wonder what the French have to say about that. 

Since when Napoleon became French?

bestkeptsecret

Excited about this being a Ridley Scott film, but disappointed that it stars Joaquin Phoenix.

rundhvid

Ridley Scott historical action epic "Napoleon" starring Joaquin Phoenix will be released in theaters worldwide on November 22 and stream globally on Apple TV+ afterward.

Given that this is a -centric site, it almost seems like a prank to not qualify the availability on  TV with either a date or TBD, if  has not announced when that will be.

seanj

mpantone

The French would probably have more complaints if this production had inaccurate costumes or the locations were blatantly wrong. However Sir Ridley isn't the type who just glosses over such details.

Much as I admire Ridley, coming from the same small town in the north of England as he does, he’s quite happy to butcher historical details and facts to make a good movie. A good example being “Kingdom of Heaven”.

jeffharris

Napoleon was about 5’-2”. 

I’m pretty sure Phoenix is a little taller. 

Unless he plans on acting on his knees like when Jose Ferrer played Toulouse Latrec, in Moulin Rouge (1952) you can throw historical accuracy out the window.

entropys

But would it be as good as the Sharpe’s War series starring Sean Bean? 

which I am pretty sure I bought on iTunes but it seems to have disappeared. Completely.

Actually a horatio hornblower or jack aubrey Napoleonic war series would be pretty good too.

cg27

I wonder if Scott used any of Kubrick’s prodigious library on Napoleon, once thought to have been the most exhaustive collection of Napoleonic history (pre-internet of course).  It’s disappointing Kubrick couldn’t make his Napoleon movie, opting/resorting to make Barry Lyndon instead; a terrific film (which the French love).