Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon” hasn’t even been released yet, but its filmmaker is already banging the drums for his original director’s cut to get released.
Speaking to Empire Magazine, Scott says he has a “fantastic” cut of “Napoleon” that clocks in at 270 minutes and which further fleshes out Vanessa Kirby’s performance as Joséphine:
Napoleon’ is almost three hours long, although Scott has a “fantastic” near four-and-a-half-hour cut, which features more of Joséphine’s life before she meets Napoleon. He’d love Apple (who funded the film) to eventually screen it. But what they have now is hardly slight. “It’s an astonishing story,” Phoenix says of Napoleon’s life. “Hopefully we captured some of the most interesting moments.” Even without the piles.
“Napoleon” has a theatrical runtime of 157 minutes, it’s already been MPA rated so that will likely not change. However … cue in #ReleaseTheScottCut hashtags. The cut Scott talks about above is over an hour longer.
Apple clearly has high hopes for the film. They’ve decided to release it during the thick of awards season on November 22nd. Something does have to be said about that.
“Napoleon” has 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 this incredibly eccentric performance from Joaquin Phoenix.
I had published four reactions of Scott’s film, they were as follows: masterpiece, masterpiece, mixed and negative.
Produced and financed by Apple, Scott’s epic reunites the filmmaker with Phoenix as the European conquering emperor. Scott is 85-years-old, but this is one of the most ambitious films of his career. It is said to tackle Napoleon’s world-conquering theatrics, not to mention his frosty relationship with wife Joséphine (Vanessa Kirby).
Scott is no stranger to “Director’s Cuts.” We all know about the multiple “Blade Runner” cuts. Also, his Crusades epic, “Kingdom of Heaven,” was originally released in the summer of 2005 to negative reviews which led to Scott adding more than an hour's worth of deleted footage. The result? More fully fleshed-out characters, plot holes no longer visible and action sequences which could now breathe and sing in effective fashion.
The tragic part of it all was that this 210 minute cut of ‘Kingdom’ was the version Scott wanted to release all along, but the studio wanted to hear none of it. "Kingdom of Heaven" deserves be known as one of the greatest director's cuts ever released. This 210 minute cut is meant to age like fine wine and it will.
Is the same story again happening with “Napoleon”?
Edward Berger seems to have settled on what comes next. His Lance Armstrong biopic, starring Austin Butler, is now holding casting calls, with production eyed for January.