Napoleon: Ridley Scott Would

Posted in: Apple, Movies, Sony | Tagged: apple tv, napoleon, ridley scott, sony

Sir Ridley Scott has revealed there is a 270-minute [over four hours] cut of Napoleon that he would “love Apple to eventually screen it.”

We are truly living in the age of extended editions and directors. The change started to boom with the switch to DVD, but since streaming and digital became a thing, a company can now release an extended film cut without having to produce a single DVD or Blu-ray. There is no promise that a director’s or extended cut will be the superior version. Most creatives will tell you that there is always stuff you can and should cut, but with the heightened interest in extended releases and director’s cuts, people are talking about an extended-release before the film is even out. We are seeing this with Zack Snyder with Rebel Moon, and now we are seeing it with Ridley Scott and Napoleon. Sir Ridley is no stranger to extended and director’s cuts, but he’s already putting it out there that Apple should let him release the 270-minute version of Napoleon, a cut that is over four hours long. Scott spoke to Empire Magazine (via Deadline) and said that he would “love Apple to eventually screen it,” with the main differences in the two cuts being that the extended features “more of Joséphine’s life before she meets Napoleon.” Vanessa Kirby, who plays Joséphine, spoke highly of her co-star Joaquin Phoenix.

“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.” Kirby said. “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.”

As for Phoenix? His response was a little more to the point as he hopes the cut of the film “captured some of the most interesting moments.” He also elaborated that the film “is an astonishing story.” We saw footage from this film during CinemaCon, including an extended battle scene on a frozen lake. It was a stark reminder that no one does battle scenes better than Sir Ridley. This might be an Apple Original, who are double gunning for Oscar gold between this and Killers of the Flower Moon, only this one is being distributed theatrically worldwide by Sony. The odds are usually pretty good when it comes to Sir Ridley, and this does look very good.

Napoleon: Summary, Cast List, Release Date

Napoleon’ is 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. The film captures Napoleon’s famous battles, relentless ambition, and astounding strategic mind as an extraordinary military leader and war visionary. Starring Joaquin Phoenix in the title role, Vanessa Kirby as Empress Joséphine, Tahar Rahim as Paul Barras, Ben Miles as Caulaincourt, Ludivine Sagnier as Theresa Cabarrus, Matthew Needham as Lucien Bonaparte, Youssef Kerkour as Marshal Davout, Phil Cornwell as Sanson ‘The Bourreau,’ Edouard Philipponnat as Tsar Alexander, Paul Rhys as Talleyrand, John Hollingworth as Marshall Ney, Gavin Spokes as Moulins and Mark Bonnar as Jean-Andoche Juno, written by David Scarpa, directed by Ridley Scott. It will be released in theaters on November 22, 2023, and on AppleTV+ at a later date.

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