Legendary director Ridley Scott’s latest epic historical drama film, Napoleon, premiered at Salle Pleyel in Paris last week. The film features some well-known Hollywood stars like Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby, Tahar Rahim, and Ben Miles. After the premiere, the film was scrutinized by various critics, however, Scott isn’t phased by it at all.
This isn’t the first time Scott teamed up with Phoenix for a movie. Their first movie together, Gladiator, was released back in 2000. For the director, Phoenix is “probably the most special, thoughtful actor,” in fact, he is so fond of his work that he fought with the studios because they were trying to remove Phoenix from 2000’s Gladiator. Eventually, Scott secured Phoenix’s place in the movie and the actor gave a remarkable performance as Commodus, earning praise from fans all over the world.
Also read: Joaquin Phoenix May be Still So in Character He Walked Out of His Own Movie Screening
Ridley Scott fought for Joaquin Phoenix’s place in 2000’s Gladiator
Actor Joaquin Phoenix played the role of Commodus, the son of Marcus Aurelius, in director Ridley Scott‘s 2000 movie Gladiator. Initially, the studios were against the idea of Pheonix’s casting, but Scott was firm that he wanted Pheonix for the role. The actor recently recalled that the director fought for him (via BBC),
“The studio did not want me for Gladiator. In fact, Ridley was given an ultimatum and he fought for me and it was just this extraordinary experience.”
The sequel to Gladiator (2000) has been in the works for many years and finally, fans have an official date. Directed by Ridley Scott, Gladiator 2 is scheduled to be released in the United States on November 22, 2024.
Ridley Scott doesn’t care about Napoleon‘s bad reviews
The director’s latest film Napoleon, premiered at Salle Pleyel in Paris on November 14, 2023. The initial reaction from the critics has been negative but Scott is not affected by it. In the same interview with BBC, the director claimed,
“The French don’t even like themselves. The audience that I showed it to in Paris, they loved it.
The film is scheduled to be released in theatres in the United States and the United Kingdom on November 22, 2023. Based on the true story of Napoleon Bonaparte, the film was shot in 61 days and has a runtime of 2 hours 38 minutes.
