Apple is at it again. The tech company with a seemingly bottomless bank account has gone ahead and purchased yet another film that is likely going to garner a fair bit of attention in the next couple of years. This time, Apple has gone ahead and signed a deal to finance a produce a new historical epic from Ridley Scott, titled “Kitbag.”
According to Deadline, Apple is all in with Scott and his new film “Kitbag,” which tells the story of Napoleon Bonaparte. And to help bring the story to life, Scott is reteaming with his “Gladiator” actor (and recent Oscar winner), Joaquin Phoenix, who will play the historical figure.
“Napoleon is a man I’ve always been fascinated by,” Scott said. “He came out of nowhere to rule everything — but all the while he was waging a romantic war with his adulterous wife Josephine. He conquered the world to try to win her love, and when he couldn’t, he conquered it to destroy her, and destroyed himself in the process.”
“No actor could ever embody Napoleon like Joaquin,” the filmmaker added. “He created one of movie history’s most complex Emperors in Gladiator, and we’ll create another with his Napoleon. It’s a brilliant script written by David Scarpa, and today there’s no better partner than Apple to bring a story like this to a global audience.”
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Apple and Scott hope to begin production on the film in early-2022. This makes sense given Scott’s incredibly busy year ahead of him. First, he has to finish work on another historical epic, “The Last Duel,” which is scheduled to arrive in theaters when…well, when theaters can support films again. And after that, he’s going to begin work on “Gucci,” his all-star film that has Lady Gaga in the lead role. That film is expected to finish production sometime this year and could possibly sneak in before awards season. Then, he’ll move into the Phoenix-led “Kitbag,” which might be the highest-profile film of the next three on his slate.
Obviously, that film will likely be in contention for the end of 2022 awards season, and “Kitbag” will give Apple yet another major film to include to its slate of features that the company has spent a pretty penny on in recent months.