Joaquin Phoenix biopic Napoleon directed by Ridley Scott gets release date

Ridley Scott’s upcoming biopic of Napoleon Bonaparte starring Joaquin Phoenix has finally got a release date.

A new report in deadline has revealed that the film will be released in theaters on November 22, a day before Thanksgiving.

Joaquin, 48, previously earned an Oscar nomination for his performance as the Roman Emperor Commodus in Ridley’s 2000 blockbuster Gladiator.

Now the two have reunited for their first movie together in 23 years, once again telling the story of a tyrant whose shadow fell over Europe.

Titled Napoleon, the film follows the military titan’s heady romance with his first wife Josephine, played by Vanessa Kirby.

Josephine was from the colonies, born into an aristocratic family that owned a slave-holding sugar cane plantation in Martinique.

She moved to France in 1779 and entered a miserable marriage with her cousin Alexandre de Beauharnais during the twilight of the Ancien Régime.

After losing her first husband to the guillotine in the Reign Of Terror, Josephine became Napoleon’s mistress – soon to be the most powerful man in Europe.

During her turbulent 14-year marriage to Napoleon, she saw herself rise to the titles of both Empress of the French and Queen of Italy.

A glowing hostess and expert schmoozer, Napoleon’s consort was the public relations wing of his government, which led to his comment, “I win battles, but Josephine wins hearts.”

However, their union was rocked by his infidelity and her barrenness, to the point that he annulled it in 1810 – just two years before plunging into the disastrous invasion of Russia that marked the beginning of the end of his whirlwind reign.

Vanessa Kirby, who gained worldwide popularity as Princess Margaret in the first two seasons of The Crown, has been cast as Josephine in Ridley’s picture.

Ridley recently revealed in an interview with rich that Napoleon’s screenplay was drastically changed to accommodate Joaquin.

“Joaquin is as far from conventional as you can get. Not consciously, but from intuition. That’s what drives him. If something is bothering him, he’ll let you know. He made [Napoleon] specially by constantly asking questions,” Ridley shared.

“With Joaquin, we can rewrite the goddamn movie because he’s uncomfortable. And that happened to Napoleon.’

The acclaimed filmmaker explained, “We let go of the movie to help him focus on who Bonaparte was. I had to respect that, because what was said was incredibly constructive. It made it all bigger and better.’

For the past few weeks, Joaquin has been filming the sequel to his 2019 hit movie Joker, which earned him an Oscar for Best Actor.

The follow-up picture Joker: Folie à Deux added Lady Gaga to the ensemble, with her rumored to play the title character’s girlfriend, Harley Quinn.

Gaga worked with Ridley a few years ago on the camp classic House Of Gucci in which she played Patrizia Reggiani, who was convicted of ordering the murder of her ex-husband, fashion heir Maurizio Gucci.

During her publicity rounds for the film, Gaga raved about Ridley to the New York Times, rhapsodizing, “I’ve never had a better experience with a director. He likes artists, and some directors don’t. They love themselves.’

She dished up, “I joke around with Ridley all the time, but I was really experiencing some sort of attachment panic when I left the set, I missed him so much.”