A prolific multi-genre director, Ridley Scott excels both in science fiction – he directed the mythical Alien (1979), Blade Runner (1982), and Alone on Mars (2015) – as well as in the historical genre. We owe him in particular 1492: Christopher Columbus (1992), Gladiator (2000), Kingdom of Heaven (2005) or Robin Hood (2010).
It is in this vein that his next blockbuster will be inscribed, which promises to be a period drama testifying to the military genius that was Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon focuses in particular on his battlefield victories and his meteoric and unexpected rise to power. The title role goes to iconic actor Joaquin Phoenix. So what does this famous trailer reveal? Its 2 minutes 32 alternate great epic battles and scenes behind closed doors with Napoleon’s wife, Joséphine, played by Vanessa Kirby.
We learn that the film would begin in 1793, the year Napoleon Bonaparte left Corsica to settle in the region of Marseilles, while the federalist war was raging there. In a context of extreme conflict with the English in the Mediterranean basin, we see the young 24-year-old Corsican, then artillery commander, advocating the attack and promising “brilliant successes”. His strategy and his insistence finally allow the recapture of Toulon from the English, victory of which he boasts, rightly since it announces the great future which awaits him!
After its theatrical release, Apple TV plans to offer the film exclusively on its platform. If its programming has not yet been decided, it will not be before April 2025 in France, the law imposing a period of seventeen months before the broadcast of a film in streaming. This promising trailer therefore dangles an intimate and sentimental biopic, enhanced by martial scenes at the height of Gladiator or Kingdom of Heaven. After Louis XV played by Johnny Depp in front of Maïwenn’s camera, will the American Joaquin Phoenix make a credible Napoleon? History will tell!
