Apple Original Films and Sony Pictures have announced a November 22nd theatrical release date for Ridley Scott’s historical epic “Napoleon”, with the film set to open in time for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Sony Pictures will handle the film’s exclusive theatrical run, with the movie to premiere later on the Apple TV+ service. The announcement follows in the wake of Apple’s similar arrangement with Paramount Pictures for Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon”, which will get its cinema run in October.
How long that theatrical window in these cases was not made clear. Major studios have shrunk the window to anywhere between 17-45 days these days and are generally pretty flexible in terms of a streaming launch, depending upon how well a film is doing at the box-office.
Still, these releases are seen by exhibitors as important steps as it shows streamers ready to respect the theatrical window for some of their major titles. Amazon’s Ben Affleck-directed “Air”, for example, opens exclusively in cinemas this week ahead of an Amazon Prime release sometime later.
Directed by Scott from a screenplay by David Scarpa, “Napoleon” stars Joaquin Phoenix as the infamous French emperor and military leader.
The project is dubbed an original, personal look at Napoleon’s origins and climb to Emperor, viewed through the prism of his addictive and often volatile relationship with his true love Josephine (Vanessa Kirby).
Source: THR
