Napoleon (2023) on Netflix
During the French Revolution, officer Napoleon Bonaparte rises through military victories and marries Joséphine de Beauharnais, but their volatile marriage shadows his climb to power.
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- Netflix3.0/5
- IMDb6.3/10190,819 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes58%
Trailer
Plot summary
During the French Revolution in 1793, a young army officer named Napoleon Bonaparte watches Marie Antoinette go to the guillotine. He proves his skill at the Siege of Toulon by storming the enemy fort and later suppresses a royalist insurrection in 1795. He marries Joséphine de Beauharnais, an aristocratic widow, and their marriage is volatile. Napoleon leads the French army to victory at the Battle of the Pyramids in Egypt in 1798, then returns to France. The Directory criticizes him for leaving his troops, but he and his political allies overthrow the government in the Coup of 18 Brumaire, making Napoleon First Consul.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Napoleon (2023)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Joaquin Phoenix threatened to leave the film unless Paul Thomas Anderson, who had worked with him on The Master and Inherent Vice, was brought in to rewrite the script. The situation later calmed down and Phoenix remained involved in the production.
- Jodie Comer dropped out of the film on January 4, 2022 because of scheduling changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, describing the situation as "rubbish". Vanessa Kirby was announced as her replacement later that day.
- Ridley Scott consulted University of Oxford scholar Michael Broers on Napoleon's life and on the geography of the Battle of Waterloo, and he also received Stanley Kubrick's script for a planned Napoleon film that never materialized.
- The crew reportedly spent a week preparing Lincoln Cathedral, which stood in for Notre-Dame de Paris. Shooting in the cathedral took place on March 17 and 18, between 7 am and 7 pm.
- The production shot in Malta for three weeks from May 2022, transforming Fort Ricasoli in Kalkara into the site of the 1793 siege of Toulon, Napoleon's first victory. The desert around Merzouga in Morocco stood in for Egypt.
- Deadline Hollywood reported that the film's gross fell short of covering its marketing budget and estimated a loss of around $165 million for Apple, equivalent to the production budget. Apple insisted the film was profitable.
