Renowned film director Ridley Scott has been preparing anupcoming historical dramaabout Napoleon Bonaparte with Joaquin Phoenix playing the role of the controversial French military leader. The film, which was originally titledKitbagbefore being changed toNapoleon, is said to cover Napoleon’s ascension into his authoritative rule over the French Empire while also delving into the conflicted relationship with his wife Joséphine, who will be played by Vanessa Kirby. Although there has not yet been an official release date announced, there is confirmation that the movie will be distributed as an Apple Original Film through Apple TV+ sometime this year.
There have been many attempts to create a big-budget movie about Napoleon, with perhaps the most noteworthy being legendary directorStanley Kubrick’s ambitious efforts in the late 60s and early 70s to realize his authentic vision of the man’s story. He had intended to capture large-scale recreations of significant battles using real on-site locations where the events took place.
Kubrick’s hopes of adapting his story into a massive war epic were ultimately dashed when a similarly-themed 1970 war film calledWaterloofailed to reach suitable returns at the box office and his major sources of funding refused to commit. Let’s take a closer look at the filmmaker’s meticulous process in attempting to put his version of the historical figure on the big screen.
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Why Did Kubrick Struggle to Bring Napoleon to the Screen?
Fresh off the surprising critical and commercial success of his experimentalscience fiction epic,2001: A Space Odyssey, Kubrick had already set his sights on turning the tumultuous life of Napoleon Bonaparte into an extravagant motion picture. He began his research by reading everything he could get his hands on and enlisting support from dozens of colleagues and experts to provide valuable insight and ultimately develop a precise portrait of the French emperor. Kubrick devoted considerable energy to scouting potential filming sites for outdoor scenes and studying the daily habits of Napoleon, accumulating thousands of images and notes related to his project and neatly organizing them into a catalog of index cards. A large textbook titledStanley Kubrick’s Napoleon: The Greatest Movie Never Madeby Alison Castlegoes into greater detailabout the archived materials, many of which would end up displayed at one of the various exhibits dedicated to Kubrick’s filmography.
One peculiar aspect of Kubrick’s research comes from his appraisal of the films which previously touched on the subject of Napoleon. He publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with both the 1927 French silent filmNapoleon,directed by Abel Gance, and the four-part adaptation of the Leo Tolstoy novel,War and Peace, produced by the Soviet Union in the 1960s. Kubrick hoped his film would become the definitive interpretation of Napoleon’s story and surpass the reputation of those he saw as inferior.
After more than two years of preparation, Kubrick had developed a completed screenplay and compiled countless preproduction notes including a schedule detailing the exact locations, necessary personnel, and specific time of day required to shoot each scene. He apparently managed to convince the Romanian Army to supply him with thousands of soldiers that would participate in hisbrutal reenactments of famous battleswhile still remaining within a feasible budget. He had factored nearly everything into account from the authenticity of the costume and set design to the restrictions afforded by budgeting constraints, offering many possible ways to compromise for inaccurate uniform badges or impractical ship combat without sacrificing his overall vision.
Kubrick even laid out his ideal casting choice for Napoleon as none other than Jack Nicholson, who would later star inhis horror classic,The Shining, and had previously achieved notoriety for an Academy Award-nominated supporting role inEasy Rider, while subsequently revealing his desire for Audrey Hepburn to portray Joséphine. Unfortunately, when it came time for Kubrick to approach the studios to acquire financial support, there was no longer any confidence in funding a large-scale historical project to the extent that he envisioned, and the funding was denied, leaving the project stalled indefinitely.
Related:Ridley Scott Rewrote His Napoleon Script Specifically for Joaquin Phoenix
Will Kubrick’s Napoleon Ever Be Released?
Although Kubrick failed to obtain the necessary funding for his Napoleon project, his in-depth research would go on to have its uses. Some aspects of his research would factor into the similarly themed period drama that would eventually become his next film,Barry Lyndon. While it, like many of Kubrick’s films, was received with muted praise by critics at the time of release, it is now recognized as one of the best films of his career and is often hailed as an exemplar of gorgeous cinematography. Many technical elements of the film, such as the indoor lighting, elaborate costumes, and location scouting, were undertaken with the same thoughtful care which was given during his intense study of Napoleon.
Sometime after Kubrick’s death, the unpublished screenplay for his planned Napoleon film became publicly available alongside many other archived documents gathered during his research. Since that time, there have been numerous efforts to adapt Kubrick’s screenplay: first, it was announced in 2013 thatSteven Spielberg intended to producea TV miniseries, and then there were reports,including one by Collider, thatNo Time to Diedirector Cary Joji Fukunaga was attached to help develop Spielberg’s miniseries for HBO. There have been very few updates as to the project’s current development, and it is unknown if Fukunaga is still connected to the project considering theaccusations of on-set misconductby several women who had worked with him. More recently, a French opera star named David Serero presented his own live stage adaptation of Kubrick’s original screenplay with himself cast as Napoleon in late August 2018, suggesting there remains some interest in seeing a completed version of the work.
It’s always unfortunate when a genuinely talented artist is unable to realize their ambitions due to a lack of resources rather than a lack of effort. Although Kubrick was a master of his craft, he was still forced to reconcile with practical limitations that require him to alter parts of his script or, on rare occasions, abandon his project entirely.
His legacy of enduring classics continues to influence other filmmakers because of his unwavering motivation and consistent perfectionism in the face of harsh financial and logistical problems, which more often than not led him to success. As for whether Scott’s version of the Napoleon story with Joaquin Phoenix will satisfy the fans still waiting for a stunning depiction of the French leader, we’ll just have to wait and see.
