First Trailer for Ridley Scott’s Napoleon Transforms Joaquin Phoenix Into Infamous Emperor

The debut trailer for Ridley Scott’s historical epic Napoleon offers a first look at Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role as the infamous emperor.

The footage presents a chaotic scene in France in 1793 before introducing Phoenix as the French emperor and military leader Napoleon Bonaparte, complete with his famous bicorne hat. The clips show glimpses of his chequered rise to power and subsequent rule, capturing some of his most famous battles along the way.

This trailer follows a first look at CinemaCon in April that showed one of the movie’s epic battle scenes. That footage depicted Napoleon and his forces trapped by the Russian and Austrian armies before Napoleon turns the tables, forcing the enemy troops to retreat onto a frozen lake that he then bombards with cannon fire.

According to the official logline, the movie shares “an original and personal look at Napoleon’s origins and his swift, ruthless climb to emperor, viewed through the prism of his addictive and often volatile relationship with his wife and one true love, Joséphine”, who is portrayed by none other than The Crown’s Vanessa Kirby.

Napoleon is the second Scott-directed feature with Phoenix, following the 2000 historical epic Gladiator. Joining Phoenix in this movie is Tahar Rahim, Ben Miles, Ludivine Sagnier, Matthew Needham, Youssef Kerkour, Phil Cornwell, Edouard Philipponnat, Paul Rhys, John Hollingworth, Gavin Spokes, and Mark Bonnar.

An Apple Studios production in conjunction with Scott Free Productions, Napoleon is produced by Scott together with Phoenix, Kevin Walsh, and Mark Huffam, alongside the movie’s executive producers Raymond Kirk, Aidan Elliott, and Michael Pruss.

Napoleon will invade theaters on November 22, and will be available to stream on Apple TV+ at a later date.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.