Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon,” which started shooting in the UK late last month, is a major film to keep an eye out on this year. And, based on a newly leaked photo from the set, Joaquin Phoenix is going to kill in the titular role.
We haven’t gotten many big studio takes on Napoleon Bonaparte’s outrageous life, which is why I’m excited to see what Scott will deliver here. What we do know about Scott’s epic is that it will be a personal and epic look at the life of Napoleon.
We should also not mix up Scott’s “Napoleon” with Cary Fukunaga’s HBO miniseries … “Napoleon.” Fukunaga’s 6-episode venture is based off of Stanley Kubrick’s legendary unfilmed 1970’s screenplay which was going to star Jack Nicholson as the titular antihero.
As mentioned, Scott’s film stars Phoenix as Napoleon and also Vanessa Kirby as his wife, Josephine aka “Kitbag.” The film is based on a screenplay by David Scarpa, who teamed up with with Scott in 2017 on the more-than-decent “All the Money in the World.”
See the first photo of Phoenix as Napoleon below:
Netflix and Skydance Animation have also called it quits. The two sides announced Monday that they're ending the animated film deal struck back in 2023, framing it as a mutual decision.