Actor Joaquin Phoenix reunites with filmmaker Ridley Scott to play a power-hungry Napoleon Bonaparte, who led his troops to a series of military victories and dispelled anarchy in post-revolution France, in the action-packed trailer of Napoleon.
Dropped by Apple TV and Sony Pictures on Monday evening, the two-minute-38-second trailer begins with a scene of deposed French empress Marie Antoinette being led to the guillotine in 1793. It soon shifts to Napoleon’s (Phoenix) access to power as a military commander, tracing his professional career as a soldier and his tumultuous personal life. The clip goes on to show how Napoleon steadily turns into a tyrant as he is entrusted with more power with his victories. “I am destined for greatness. But those in power will only see me as a sword,” he says.
The trailer also shows us glimpses of a series of brutal battles, including a bloody massacre on a frosted lake, and recreates several of Napoleon’s famous portraits, including the French military commander sitting on a horse in front of the Sphinx in Egypt.
Watch the trailer here:
Apart from Phoenix, who previously portrayed the psychopathic Roman Emperor Commodus in Scott’s Oscar-winning historical epic Gladiator (2000), the film also features Vanessa Kirby, Tahar Rahim Ben Miles, Matthew Needham and Ludivine Sagnier.
Napoleon is slated to release in theatres on November 22 after which it will be streaming on Apple TV+.
