Ridley Scott‘s Napoleon (formerly Kitbag) has released a still of Joaquin Phoenix in the title role. Right away you’re reminded that the 47-year-old Phoenix (born on 10.28.74) is looking his age, which leads to a presumption that Scott’s film is about an older Napoleon during the last five or six years of his life.
Born in August 1769, Napoleon’s career peaked between the early 1790s and 1810, give or take. The 51 year-old Napoleon died in exile on the island of Saint Helena in May 1821.
But the film’s Wiki page says that Scott will depict “Napoleon’s rise to power through the lens of his addictive and volatile relationship with Empress Josephine (Vanessa Kirby).”
Napoleon’s rise-to-power period happened between his mid 20s (or the mid 1790s) to late 30s — he was crowned Emperor of France in 1804, at age 35. So a guy in his late 40s (and who looks like he’s nudging 50) is playing a guy in his mid 20s to late 30s.
The 25-year-old Phoenix who played Roman Emperor Commodus in Scott’s Gladiator (’00) would have been a better fit. It’s always easier to age an actor rather than de-age.
Marlon Brando was a fitting and appropriate 30 when he played Napoleon in the 20th Century Fox costume drama Desiree (’54).
We can only surmise that Scott will have no choice but to de-age Phoenix with digital touch-ups and whatnot.
Basic Wiki history: “Napoleon began principal photography in February 2022. The film will feature six major battle sequences, unlike other films about Napoleon, such as Waterloo (’70), that include only one. The crew will reportedly spend a week to prepare England’s Lincoln Cathedral for two days of filming, starting on March 17.
“Filming will also take place in Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, and at West Wycombe Park in Buckinghamshire, England.
“It will also shoot in Malta for three weeks, starting in May 2022. Fort Ricasoli in Kalkara, Malta, is set to be transformed into the site of 1793‘s siege of Toulon, where the 24-year-old Napoleon had his first victory.”