‘Napoleon’ Trailer: Joaquin Phoenix and Ridley Scott Reunite for Action-Epic

Ridley Scott returns to the historical action epic genre in this first trailer for his sweeping Napoleon, which reunites the director with his Oscar-winning Gladiator star Joaquin Phoenix.

Napoleon is described as capturing “Napoleon Bonaparte’s relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his one true love, Josephine (Vanessa Kirby), showcasing his visionary military and political tactics against some of the most dynamic practical battle sequences ever filmed.”

“I’m the first to admit when I make a mistake,” intones Bonaparte (Phoenix) at one point in the trailer, “I simply never do.”

The trailer shows multiple sweeping battlefield scenes chronicling the French military commander and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the Revolutionary Wars, eventually becoming the Emperor of the French in 1804.

In addition to Phoenix as the original short king, the film also stars Ben Miles, Matthew Needham, Tahar Rahim, Youssef Kerkour and Phil Cornwell, among others.

The project also released a poster with the marketing tagline: “He came from nothing. He conquered everything.”

Hollywood has been eyeing a definitive Napoleon biopic for decades. Stanley Kubrick famously developed a project in 1969, but financial backers pulled out after another project titled Waterloo flopped. In 2021, Scott told Deadline, “Napoleon is a man I’ve always been fascinated by. He came out of nowhere to rule everything — but all the while he was waging a romantic war with his adulterous wife Josephine. 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.” He added, “No actor could ever embody Napoleon like Joaquin. He created one of movie history’s most complex Emperors in Gladiator, and we’ll create another with his Napoleon.”

The film’s original title was, oddly enough, Kitbag, which was reportedly based on the obscure expression, “There is a general’s staff hidden in every soldier’s kitbag” — a reference to how there’s the potential for greatness in every fighting man.

Napoleon is from Sony Pictures and Apple Original Films. Napoleon is released in theaters on Nov. 22, 2023 by Sony Pictures and then will stream on Apple TV+ at a later date.