A trailer for Ridley Scott’s much-anticipated “Napoleon” is attached to IMAX copies of ‘Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One.’ I presume the trailer might be released online this coming week.
Although it will be gunning for awards season, “Napoleon,” according to Screen Daily, is currently set to skip the fall festivals.
At time of writing Screen understood the film will not receive a world premiere festival berth.
Produced and financed by Apple, Scott’s epic reunites the filmmaker with Joaquin Phoenix as the European conquering emperor. Scott is 85-years-old, but this is said to be one of the most ambitious films of his career.
The exclusive footage shown at this past April’s CinemaCon was said to feature a winter battle scene where Russian and Austrian forces team-up against a French advance only to fall victim to a battlefield trap concocted by Napoleon.
Here’s The Playlist’s Gregory Ellwood describing what he saw:
The scenes featured hundreds (a thousand?) extras on horseback (“Kingdom of Heaven” vibes) and almost entirely in-camera visual effects (lots of on-the-ground explosions). There were at least three or four individual shots that anyone in the room will still remember weeks from now, which obviously a very good thing. The only concern is Scott has allowed all the actors to speak in their native accents which in this case means Napoleon sounds American. Scott got away with it on his last film, “The Last Duel,” but we’re a bit concerned it won’t work in this particular historical context.
The film, which opens exclusively in theaters on November 22, has already been test-screened twice — I posted three reactions so far, masterpiece, masterpiece and mixed.
“Napoleon” stars Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby. It is 154 minutes in length and tackles Napoleon’s world-conquering theatrics, not to mention his frosty relationship with wife Joséphine (Kirby).
Scott’s epic has also been “Rated R” for strong violence, some grisly images, sexual content and brief language. Based on what I’ve heard, it’s a bloody and gruelling epic that has an incredible performance from Phoenix.
I actually find that number optimistic. Tickets for “Digger” go on sale next Tuesday, and presales will give us a better picture of how bad it’s looking.