The Epic 'Napoleon' Trailer Chronicles the Famous French General's Rise to Power
Joaquin Phoenix in "Napoleon"
(Photo: Apple TV+)
For all that French general turned emperor Napoleon Bonaparte is one of history's most famous figures, the entertainment world has yet to produce a definitive onscreen version of his story. (Not for lack of desire — even Stanley Kubrick was trying to make a Napoleon movie back in the 1960s!) But, at long last, that appears to be about to change with Apple TV+'s upcoming film Napoleon, a sweeping historical drama from director Ridley Scott that aims to showcase the iconic French general's visionary strategic and military prowess alongside the intense love story that would come to define much of his life.
Oscar-winner Joaquin Phoenix (Joker) reunites with his former Gladiator director to play Napoleon in this action-filled story that follows his swift rise to prominence during the French Revolution, a road that would ultimately lead to him crowning himself Emperor of the French. The Crown alum Vanessa Kirby plays Napoleon's wife, Josephine de Beauharnais; the film will attempt to provide greater depth and context to his story by focusing on his addictive and often volatile relationship with her. (Despite his impressive strategic mind and outsize ambition, it's unlikely he would have ever become the leader he did if not for her presence in his life.)
Josephine was six years older than Napoleon when the two married in 1796, and she became empress when her husband took the title of emperor in 1804. Though he loved his wife deeply, the two divorced in 1810 due to Josephine's inability to give him an heir. But he remained in love with her and reportedly locked himself in a room for two full days at the news of her death just four years later.
The film's official description is as much about its scope and battle sequences as its character arcs, so the action featured in the trailer is probably just the beginning.
Napoleon is a spectacle-filled action epic that details the checkered rise and fall of the iconic French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Against a stunning backdrop of large-scale filmmaking orchestrated by legendary director Ridley Scott, the film captures Bonaparte's relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his one true love, Josephine, showcasing his visionary military and political tactics against some of the most dynamic practical battle sequences ever filmed.
Alongside Phoenix and Kirby, the film also stars Ben Miles (The Capture) as Caulaincourt, Matthew Needham (House of the Dragon) as Lucien Bonaparte, Tahar Rahim (The Serpent) as Paul Barras, Ludivine Sagnier (The Serpent Queen) as Theresa Cabarrus, Youssef Kerkour (Domina) as Marshal Davou, and Phil Cornwell (Mrs. Brown's Boys) as Sanson ‘The Bourreau,’ Paul Rhys (A Discovery of Witches) as Talleyrand, John Hollingworth (Gentleman Jack) as Marshall Ney, Gavin Spokes (The Ipcress File) as Moulins, Mark Bonnar (Guilt) as Jean-Andoche Junot, and Edouard Philipponnat as Tsar Alexander.
“Napoleon is a man I’ve always been fascinated by,” Scott told Deadline when production on the film was announced. “He came out of nowhere to rule everything — but all the while he was waging a romantic war with his adulterous wife Joséphine. He conquered the world to try to win her love, and when he couldn’t, he conquered it to destroy her, and destroyed himself in the process.”
The film will first be released exclusively in theaters worldwide, in partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment, on Wednesday, November 22, 2023, before streaming globally on Apple TV+.
