Napoleon Trailer: Joaquin Phoenix Is Ready To Conquer Ridley Scott's Latest Epic

Ridley Scott can't stop won't stop. The man is 85 and still cranking out big movies. In 2021 he released both "The Last Duel" and "House of Gucci." He has "Gladiator 2" due out next year. But we're about to get another Scott flick this year, too. That would be "Napoleon," Ridley's war epic that casts Joaquin Phoenix as the infamous French emperor. The first trailer for "Napoleon" has just arrived, and it looks big, like Scott pulled out all the stops to craft something truly epic. Don't be surprised if this one ends up in awards season talk.

For now, though, put on your giant hat and check out the "Napoleon" trailer below. 

This looks pretty damn great. That was my first thought. My second thought: Joaquin Phoenix isn't doing an accent. Okay, I suppose he's putting on the slight trace of an accent in the soft way he's speaking. But anyone who expected the actor to run around the movie with a thick French accent — sorry! That doesn't seem to be happening. And honestly, that's for the better. Scott did something similar with "The Last Duel," a film where all the characters were French but spoke in (mostly) unaccented English. Scott seems to realize that such accents can be distracting, and it's better to ignore them completely (that wasn't the case with "House of Gucci," which had a lot of goofy accents). 

"Napoleon" is described as "a spectacle-filled action epic that details the checkered rise and fall of the iconic French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, played by Oscar®-winner Joaquin Phoenix. Against a stunning backdrop of large-scale filmmaking orchestrated by legendary director Ridley Scott, the film captures Bonaparte's relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his one true love, Josephine, showcasing his visionary military and political tactics against some of the most dynamic practical battle sequences ever filmed." The film also stars Vanessa Kirby as Empress Joséphine.

Look for "Napoleon" in theaters on November 22, 2023.