'Napoleon' storms onto Apple TV+ in March

AppleInsider

The Apple Original box office hit "Napoleon" will premiere on Apple TV+ at the beginning of March.

Image Credit: Apple

"Napoleon" had a theatrical release in November 2023, just before Thanksgiving. Apple had signed the order for the project in early 2021, back when it was still known as "Kitbag."

The Apple Original depicts the life of Napoleon and how he became an emperor, focusing on his tumultuous relationship with Josephine. The film will also 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.

While the film took in nearly $30 million in its first three days, reviews have been somewhat mixed.



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Appleish

Finally. We don't do theaters any longer. People think they're in their living rooms and act accordingly. We set up a big TV and a 13-channel Dolby Atmos system at the beginning of the pandemic and got very comfortable in our media room.

AppleZulu

In October, the chatter was that the AppleTV+ release would be a four-and-a-half hour director's cut. It seems uncertain now if that's still the plan. 

StrangeDays

It is so annoying they aren't releasing their own films to the ATV platform as a first-class citizen. HBO Max did this w/ their films and I loved it. Theaters kinda suck these days (the people) compared to pretty good home theaters. Having access to the streamer's films from home should be a perk of membership, rather than penalizing me by holding it until after the theatrical release and the rental release.

CarmB

StrangeDays said:

It is so annoying they aren't releasing their own films to the ATV platform as a first-class citizen. HBO Max did this w/ their films and I loved it. Theaters kinda suck these days (the people) compared to pretty good home theaters. Having access to the streamer's films from home should be a perk of membership, rather than penalizing me by holding it until after the theatrical release and the rental release.

Apple should be finding ways to recover costs because failing to do so one way means looking for other ways to do so. I’d rather wait for a theatrical run to wrap up on movies like Napoleon and Killers of the Flower Moon than pay more for Apple TV+ instead. Truth is, in my youth, we had a sweet arrangement on account of you got access to great movies without paying monthly streaming fees. Yes you had to sit through ads but you put up an antenna and you were good to go. Honestly I do not value in the slightest getting to see a movie a couple of months sooner. Loved Killers of the Flower Moon and enjoyed it just fine checking it out when it landed on Apple TV+. I have so much good content to enjoy that I hardly find myself languishing as I wait for a particular title to become available. Frankly, what I want out of Apple TV+, or any other streaming service, is to not keep having to pay more and more and more for the service. If the goal is to look for ways to justify charging more, no thanks. 

Dead_Pool

Another cinematic snooze fest, with gratuitous and unintentionally hilarious sex scenes. I still have no idea what was going on in the climatic battle scenes. True art. 

AppleZulu

StrangeDays said:

It is so annoying they aren't releasing their own films to the ATV platform as a first-class citizen. HBO Max did this w/ their films and I loved it. Theaters kinda suck these days (the people) compared to pretty good home theaters. Having access to the streamer's films from home should be a perk of membership, rather than penalizing me by holding it until after the theatrical release and the rental release.

During the pandemic, a number of studios released major films directly in streaming apps. Shortly after, some experimented with simultaneous streaming and theatrical releases. In some cases doing so was an attempt to boost streaming app subscription rates. 

Now that people are going in numbers back to cinemas, and the streaming app market seems to have plateaued, it doesn’t make financial sense to do simultaneous releases, at least for big-budget films. It’s not about making home viewers into second-class citizens, it’s about generating income from an expensive investment.