Director Ridley Scott’s upcoming historical epic, Napoleon, is one of the biggest films of the year.
The film, which stars Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon, chronicles the rise and fall of the French leader. And trace his relationship with Empress Joséphine (Vanessa Kirby). Anticipation for the film has grown over the past few months as fans and critics alike eagerly await its release.
In a recent interview with Total Films, Ridley Scott teased the current length of the theatrical run. As well as the director’s cut, which will debut on Apple TV+. He revealed that the feature’s theatrical run is about 2 hours, 38 minutes long. Whereas his current director’s cut of the film is over four hours long.
“I’m working on it. It was four hours and 10 minute this morning,” the director said. It is only fitting that the movie takes a little longer to capture everything. “And so what will happen is, we’ll screen [the theatrical cut] first with Sony, and then it has its run, and then the perfect thing is that [the director’s cut] goes to streaming, and we have four hours and 10 minutes.”
However, it is unclear if the extended version of the film will be cut down any further. But nevertheless, the extended cut will undoubtedly give fans more insight into Napoleon and Joséphine’s relationship.
Further, the director also revealed that he completed filming the period drama, which comprises six major battles, in just 62 days. In comparison, it took him over 150 days to film his blockbuster epic, Gladiator.
Explaining how he achieved this feat, Ridley Scott said, “Every scene is geometry,” noting, “By having 11 to 14 cameras, we shot Napoleon in 62 days. I’m doing Gladiator 2 now in 54 days, because I’m not doing 50 takes with one camera, on one shot, and then turning around.”
Napoleon debuts in cinemas on November 22 and will release on Apple TV+ on an undisclosed date.