‘Napoleon’ Trailer: Joaquin Phoenix Crowns Himself Emperor in Ridley Scott’s Epic

“Success is the most convincing talker in the world,” Napoleon Bonaparte once said. And a really successful trailer can sell you on a movie even in the midst of an extremely crowded awards season. Witness the first trailer for “Napoleon,” Ridley Scott’s long-gestating epic about the French emperor, who conquered most of Europe in the early 19th century. Watch it below.

Starring Joaquin Phoenix as the general turned dictator, the film promises an epic scale like we haven’t seen from Scott in some time. Perhaps not since “Kingdom of Heaven,” or even his last pairing with Phoenix, 2000’s “Gladiator.” There are massive armies arrayed in battle, jeering crowds set to witness Marie Antoinette’s execution during the Reign of Terror, and even the pyramids being used for target practice — yes, something that Bonaparte, a Corsican who rose from nothing to be the most all-powerful figure in Europe in centuries, in his recklessness actually allowed to take place during his invasion of Egypt.

Vanessa Kirby, initially pixie-haired, stars as Josephine, his lover and eventual wife, who was arguably Napoleon’s closest confidante as he installed puppet rulers in Italy and Spain, marched on Russia, and ultimately met his match when all the remaining powers of Europe aligned against him.

“Napoleon” is a movie Scott’s been talking about directing for some time. Given its extraordinary production values, it’s no surprise it is a co-production between Sony and Apple TV+, the latter of which has been willing to bankroll projects that might make other studio execs blanch (see “Killers of the Flower Moon” and the upcoming series “Masters of the Air.”)

A Napoleon film had long been the dream of Stanley Kubrick who was deep into pre-production on the project in the late ’60s/early ’70s before ultimately abandoning it. Charlie Chaplin’s original conception for “The Great Dictator” was for it to be a Napoleon film, and test photos of him in costume exist, before the rising tide of European Fascism in the ’30s made him pivot toward a contemporary-set story making fun of Hitler and Mussolini. What remains as the definitive account of the general’s life is Abel Gance’s six-hour silent film, “Napoleon,” from 1927. Will Scott’s film change that?

The film opens exclusively in theaters this Thanksgiving. Watch the trailer below.