According to Deadline, Apple Studios will finance and produce the Napoleon Bonaparte biopic epic Kitbag, directed by Oscar nominee Ridley Scott (The Martian, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down) and starring Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix (Joker, The Master, Gladiator) as the 19th-century French emperor. As previously reported, the film’s title stems from the saying, “There is a general’s staff hidden in every soldier’s kitbag.”
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“Napoleon is a man I’ve always been fascinated by,” Scott told the outlet. “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.”
“No actor could ever embody Napoleon like Joaquin,” Scott continued. “He created one of movie history’s most complex Emperors in Gladiator, and we’ll create another with his Napoleon. It’s a brilliant script written by David Scarpa, and today there’s no better partner than Apple to bring a story like this to a global audience.”
Directed by Scott, Kitbag is described as 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, Josephine. The film will capture Napoleon’s famous battles, his relentless ambition, and “astounding strategic mind as an extraordinary military leader and war visionary.”
David Scarpa (All the Money in the World) is penning the script for the 20th Century Studios project that is being produced by Scott and Kevin Walsh for Scott Free.
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Scott and Kevin Walsh will produce the project for Scott Free. Production on the film is scheduled to begin in early 2022 in the UK.
(Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
