'Napoleon' filmmaker Ridley Scott shares shocking director's cut length
'Napoleon' director Ridley Scott opens up about film's director's cut as he sets to startle fans with its length
October 08, 2023
Ridley Scott is set to deliver his next magnum opus after 2000's Gladiator: Napoleon. And the critically-acclaimed filmmaker revealed his period film has a director cut—and a pretty long one.
Talking to Total Film magazine, the Blade Runner-helmer spilled the beans on the length of his director's cut.
"I'm working on it. It was four [hours] 10 [minutes] this morning," he continued. "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 10 minutes."
The Emmy winner also revealed a surprising feat about the film before release: he completed the period drama, with at least six major battles, in just 62 days. Gladiator took 150 days plus to wrap up, for comparison.
Explaining how he pulled off this direction swiftness, he 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 will roll out in cinemas on November 22. Following the theatrical run, the film will be streamed on Apple TV+.
Watch the trailer here:
