Holding the world premiere of Ridley Scotts Napoleon in Paris was a no-brainer for Sonys motion picture group chairman and CEO Tom Rothman, due to the films French DNA and its subject, the famous French emperor (played by Joaquin Phoenix).
Where else could you begin the worldwide rollout of Napoleon than France?, said Rothman on the red carpet of the event at the Salle Pleyel concert hall, where Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby and Tahar Rahim were able to attend thanks to the end of the 118-day SAG-AFTRA strike.
But the French theatrical bow comes with a downside for Apple, which financed the pricey movie and will now have to wait 17 months to launch the movie on its service due to Frances strict windowing rules.
Its a great credit to Apple who made the film because this particular movie () is a big screen experience, said Rothman. Its epic and its large and its robust and it wants to play on a big screen.
Apple also opted to give Martin Scorseses Killers of the Flower Moon a theatrical release in France, where it was released by Paramount last month after a premiere at Cannes and will land on the streamer in France in 2025.
Scott, who skipped the carpet entirely, gave a brief speech on stage, joking that Napoleon was the 10th movie (hes made) with Tom (Rothman). Remarkably, were still good friends!
The filmmaker also thanked Apple for its financial support. We werent inexpensive and I thank them for that. They put a lot of trust in me to work with that kind of budget.
Producer Kevin J. Walsh, who was at the Paris premiere, said the budget came to under $200 million. Walsh said the movie is expensive because it didnt rely heavily on CGI and AI. You see a lot of these movies that are so CGI-packed and they feel like when youre in a war scene or a battle scene or an action sequence, its almost dizzying, said Walsh. Its extraordinary to see the scope of some of the actual in-camera images we shot, and have all those horses and soldiers and cannons going off and mortars of mud getting shot up.
Having made 12 movies with Scott, Walsh described him as a general. Every Monday morning of prep, he takes a script and we have every head of department around the table, and we flip through it page by page. He said if you do your job and youre prepared, youre going to win, but if you dont do your job and youre not prepared. Hes like Next person!'
Unlike Phoenix who nearly ran down the red carpet to avoid journalists, Kirby seemed happy to promote the movie and speak about her onscreen character Josephine de Beauharnais, Napoleons influential wife. Looking statuesque in a strapless black gown, Kirby said she felt a lot of empathy for her character. It was difficult in many ways to be the feminine in that extremely masculine world and she did such an amazing job of remaining dignified until the end.
Asked about rumors of her being offered the role of the invisible woman in Marvels Fantastic Four movie, she smiled ear to ear and said, Id be extremely honored to join the cast.
Rahim, who has rarely done period movies, said he embraced the experience of working with Scott, a director who knows exactly what he wants in terms of directing, but also in terms of editing.
Hes got a lot of cameras shooting at the same time, so he knows exactly what hes going to edit, and its quite impressive to see this man by orchestrating such a large one big set with hundreds of extras, animals, boats and sometimes 14 cameras at the same time, said Rahim. The French actor recently wrapped the shoot of Aznavour, a biopic of the French-Armenian crooner Charles Aznavour, another memorable experience. It gave me an immense pleasure to work with this team and play this emblematic character which seemed an insurmountable challenge at first, said Rahim.
The Paris premiere of Napoleon was also attended by French AMPAS voters who gathered for a cocktail before the screening. The movie is being buzzed about for the awards season and Scott is certainly hoping to be back in the Oscar race with Napoleon.
Ridley Scott is 85 years old, has more energy than you or I, and has made some of the great movies of our lifetime and, believe it or not, has never won an Academy Award. So I hope he does this time, said Rothman.
Scott was Oscar-nominated three times for best director (The Martian, Thelma Louise and Gladiator), plus once for best picture as a producer on The Martian.
Napoleon will bow in theaters around the world on Nov. 22.