It’s strange to be in early October and have the vast majority of notable films coming this year already having premiered, but that’s the case in 2023. Outside of Sean Durkin’s The Iron Claw and John Woo’s just-added Silent Night, the only other promising film yet to screen publicly is Ridley Scott’s war epic Napoleon. With a release set for this Thanksgiving, it’s now confirmed the 2-hour, 38-minute theatrical cut is not the only version we’ll see of it soon.
In a new issue of Total Film, Scott confirmed rumors of a longer director’s cut, ideal for the film’s post-theatrical Apple TV+ streaming home. “I’m working on it. It was four [hours] 10 [minutes] this morning,” he said. “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.” While Apple TV+ has yet to confirm a streaming release date, we have to imagine it––similar to their release of Killers of the Flower Moon––won’t be until early 2024 considering the film’s theatrical potential.
Considering Scott’s preference for various cuts of his films, here’s hoping the expanded take on his Joaquin Phoenix reunion is more along the lines of Kingdom of Heaven or Blade Runner and less akin to, well, Robin Hood. As we await more details and the release of the theatrical version of his latest film in just over a month, check out two behind-the-scenes looks below.