Napoleon: Release date, trailer, cast, plot, and more

❘ Published: 2024-01-09T11:44:46

Columbia Pictures

Napoleon stars Joaquin Phoenix as the French military commander – here’s everything we know about the Ridley Scott movie, including its release date, cast, and plot.

Director Ridley Scott is known for his historical epics, thanks to movies like The Duellists, 1492, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, and most recently The Last Duel.

Scott has also had success with biopics and character pieces like American Gangster, Body of Lies, and House of Gucci.

For his next film, he’s combining both genres, with Napoleon a biopic and a historical epic. Here’s everything we know about the movie, including release date, trailer, cast, plot, and more.

Napoleon release date: When’s it out

Napoleon played exclusively in theaters from November 22, 2023. The movie will then be available on premium video on demand from January 9, 2024.

@mrRuimy Ridley Scott's Napoleon has already been rated in South Korea from its official rating boards website – indicating that the film is complete pic.twitter.com/9J4v97H11Y
— Jordan (@FilmaRobotica) June 26, 2023

It still remains unknown when Napoleon will officially stream on Apple TV+, with the platform expected to host the original 4-hour director’s cut of the movie.

Napoleon clocks in at a whopping 157 minutes. That’s according to a post on the South Korean rating board’s website.

Napoleon trailer

On July 10, 2023, a new trailer for Napoleon was released and can be viewed below:

Ridley Scott directs the film with a script by David Scarpa, whom he previously collaborated with on All the Money in the World.

“Napoleon is a man I’ve always been fascinated by,” Scott said in a statement at the start of production. “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.”

On October 18, 2023, Napoleon received its second trailer, which heavily focuses on intense battle scenes. You can watch it below:

Napoleon cast: Who’s in it?

The following are the main members of the Napoleon cast, including the actors and the characters they play:

Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon Bonaparte
Vanessa Kirby as Empress Joséphine
Tahar Rahim as Paul Barras
Ludivine Sagnier as Theresa Cabbarus
Ben Miles as Caulaincourt
Matthew Needham as Lucien Bonaparte
Phil Cornwell as Sansom ‘The Bourreau’
Youssef Kerkour as Marshal Davout
Mark Bonnar as Jean-Andoche Junot

Napoleon plot: What’s it about?

Here’s the official synopsis for the movie: “Napoleon is a spectacle-filled action epic that details the checkered rise and fall of the iconic French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, played by Oscar-winner Joaquin Phoenix.

“Against a stunning backdrop of large-scale filmmaking orchestrated by legendary director Ridley Scott, the film captures Bonaparte’s relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his one true love, Josephine, showcasing his visionary military and political tactics against some of the most dynamic practical battle sequences ever filmed.”

Napoleon is available to watch digitally from January 9. You can check out some of our other TV & Movie hubs below: