New York (AFP)
The Apple studio will produce Ridley Scott's film "Kitbag", dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte, with Oscar-winning American comedian Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role.
The feature film will focus on the start of the future emperor's journey and his rise to power, through the prism of his relationship with Joséphine, who became his wife in 1796, Apple told AFP.
It is the screenwriter David Scarpa, already working on the film "All the money in the world" (2017), who wrote the script for "Kitbag" (canvas travel bag), whose release date has not yet been announced.
This new project will be an opportunity for Ridley Scott to reconnect with the period covered in his very first feature film, "Les Duellistes" (1977), which won him the prize for first work in Cannes.
The film was set under the Empire and had as its hero a Napoleonic hussar (played by Harvey Keitel).
This time the actor Joaquin Phoenix, 46, awarded for his main role in "Joker" at the last Oscars, will be at the top of the bill, in the role of the most famous Corsican in France.
Apple already had a partnership with the 83-year-old British director and his production company Scott Free Productions on TV projects for its Apple TV + video platform.
After launching Apple TV + in November 2019 with programming consisting mainly of series, the Cupertino (California) group has since invested heavily in cinema.
He notably produced "Cherry", Anthony and Joe Russo's first film since "Avengers: Endgame", which is scheduled for release on March 12.
The platform is also committed to producing the next film by Martin Scorsese, "Killers of the Flower Moon", whose budget would turn around 200 million dollars, according to several American media.
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