Ridley Scott's Napoleon: Director's Cut Just Goes Live With 48 Minutes More

As promised, the biopic of the Emperor with Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby is back in its extended version… but not in France, for the moment.

Surprise! Here is finally the Director's Cut of Napoleon of Ridley Scott. With 48 minutes extra, for a total duration of 205 minutes (the original film, released at the end of November 2023, was 157 minutes). Well, surprise… Not at all, since we were waiting for it since before the theatrical release. The announcement video, posted online on the X account (ex-Twitter) of Apple TV+ also states that “You asked, he listened.” Translation: “you requested a Director's Cut of NapoleonRidley Scott gives it to you.” Knowing that it was Ridley himself who was talking about a long version in late 2023 before his film hit theaters. This Director's Cut has therefore not been loudly demanded by a horde of noisy fans, or the “People of the Internet” as Sir Ridley himself says, but it seems that the studios are still trying to recover the marketing lesson of the “Snyder Cut” of Justice League.

Okay, so, this Director's Cut, good or good? On the level of that of Kingdom of Heaven ? We don't know. The thing is, for now, France can't see the extended version of Napoleon, which is only available on the Apple website. According to the media timeline, Apple TV+ France, as a SVOD platform, must specifically wait 17 months before offering it directly in streaming, which brings us to April 2025, approximately…

Only a VOD or DVD/Blu-Ray release of this Director's Cut could shorten this delay, but it has not been announced for now. In the meantime, France cannot see Napoleon! Impossible, and yet, as he said, impossible is not French.

Furthermore, the restored version of the Napoleon by Abel Gance (1927), presented at Cannes, will soon be available on France 5 and France TV.