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Ridley Scott’s upcoming blockbuster historical epic Napoleon is lined up for release this November, with Joaquin Phoenix in the titular role alongside Vanessa Kirby. The movie reportedly clocks in at 158 minutes, but even with over two-and-a-half hours of run-time, Scott has revealed that there is a lot more story left to be told regarding the emperor's life and legacy.
In an interview with Empire Magazine, the director revealed that post-production is a fantastic four-and-a-half-hour cut of the movie. The extended cut reportedly features more from Josephine's (Vanessa Kirby) life before her first meeting with Napoleon Bonaparte (Joaquin Phoenix).
More about Ridley Scott's Napoleon's director's cut
Napoleon is lined up to make its debut in theaters later this fall. The early marketing for the movie has been hinting at the film's epic scale, which is also reflected in the film's director's cut, which reportedly runs for four and a-half hours.
The director commented on his 270-minute cut, which adds to the dynamics of Kirby's Joséphine, in an exclusive interview with Empire. There is no confirmation regarding what will happen to the cut, but Ridley Scott would love for Apple to eventually screen it.
Although he hopes for this longer cut to be eventually released, Scott has promised that the shorter versions of the cut will make it to screens.
About the Joaquin Phoenix starrer
The official synopsis of the movie, released by Apple, reads as follows:
Napoleon is a spectacle-filled action epic that details the checkered rise and fall of the iconic French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, played by Oscar®-winner Joaquin Phoenix. 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.
Apple has also released a trailer for the movie. Watch the trailer here.
Napoleon stars Joaquin Phoenix in the main role. Commenting on the character and cast, Vanessa Kirby, who joins Phoenix for the movie, has said:
“Joaquin studies the psyche, and the psyche of Napoleon is so strange. The film feels like that. It’s kind of peculiar, and there’s an intensity in that. Napoleon wasn’t stoic and wonderful like Russell Crowe was in Gladiator. He was a dictator, a war criminal, really. It couldn’t be rousing, because that man killed hundreds and hundreds of thousands of men, in my opinion needlessly. And for what? To get an empire, for what? In the end, it all disintegrated anyway. That psyche run wild is dangerous as hell, and very strange. And this is a portrait of that.”
Director Ridley Scott has also commented on his experience casting Phoenix in the lead role:
“He’ll come in, and you’re f*cking two weeks out, and he’ll say, ‘I don’t know what to do’. “I’ll say, ‘What?!’ ‘I don’t know what to do.’ Oh God. I said, ‘Come in, sit down.’ We sat for 10 days, all day, talking scene by scene. In a sense, we rehearsed. Absolutely detail by detail.”
Phoenix himself has shared his experience working with Scott:
“The truth is, there was just a very nostalgic idea of working with Ridley again. I had such an incredible experience working with Ridley on ‘Gladiator,’ and I was so young. It was my first big production. I really yearned for that experience again, or something similar. He’s approached me about other things in the past, but nothing that felt like it would be as demanding for both of us. And so I really liked the idea of jumping into something with Ridley that was going to be that.”
The film will be released in theaters on November 22, 2023, before being made available to stream exclusively on Apple TV+.
As of now, there is no confirmation whether Apple will be releasing any extended-cut versions of Napoleon, but given Scott's promise, we can be hopeful about it. Watch this space for more updates on the same.
