Bye Bye Kitbag: Ridley Scott Very Wisely Renames His Napoleon Movie
When you hear the movie title "Kitbag," your first thought is probably not, "Oh, that's absolutely about Napoleon. How could it be anything else?" Fear not, friends. You can rest easy. The title for the upcoming Ridley Scott biopic about Napoleon Bonaparte will now be called "Napoleon," according to Deadline (via The Playlist).
If you were wondering what the hell a "Kitbag" is, the title comes from the saying, "There is a general's staff hidden in every soldier's kitbag." It's a little obscure, but whatever. It's a non-issue now. "Napoleon" makes much more sense, though the hashtag for social media is likely going to be #NapoleonMovie or something, because a search for #Napoleon brings up things like this on Twitter:
A petty potty...for when you can't make it to the heads. #Napoleon pic.twitter.com/ioA8lpsFlB
— The Trafalgar Times (@TrafTimes) December 21, 2021
Ridley Scott will make this film about the French war hero and Emperor with star Joaquin Phoenix ("Joker," "You Were Never Really Here") who will play the titular role. The Apple Studios project recently had Vanessa Kirby ("The Crown, "Pieces of a Woman") take over the role of Joséphine de Beauharnais — the Empress of France and first wife and love of Napoleon — from Jodie Comer ("The Last Duel," "Free Guy").
Have Joaquin Shove a Hand in His Shirt and Call It a Day
The film will begin production in the near future, according to reports, and will be released at some point in 2023. Not that we can keep track of release dates anymore, anyway. The world is chaos and we're merely drifting along, hoping for some entertainment on this spinning mudball.
Ridley Scott recently had successes with "House of Gucci," Lady Gaga's accent aside, and "The Last Duel," which made me want to walk out after watching that scene for a second time. Yes, yes, it was very pretty, and Matt Damon's hair was a fun distraction, but no one needs to see that twice.
As of this writing, the film is still listed as "Kitbag" on IMDB, but I'm sure that will change soon. "Napoleon" was written by David Scarpa, who did the screenplays for the upcoming "Cleopatra" with Gal Gadot, and "The Day the Earth Stood Still." The cast also includes Youssef Kerkour ("The Alchemist," "On the Edge of Darkness") in an unnamed role and Liam Edwards ("Jurassic World: Dominion," "The Flash") as an uncredited (though he's credited on IMDB) Napoleonic War Soldier.