Ridley Scott’s ‘Napoleon’ Is Coming to Apple TV+ on March 1

Apple’s original film Napoleon is slated to arrive on the small screen next month, coming to Apple TV+ subscribers following its three-month theatrical run and several weeks on premium on-demand services.

Such is the norm for Apple’s big blockbuster originals now that the global health pandemic is a distant blip in the rearview mirror and theatres are back open at full capacity. The highly-anticipated Killers of the Flower Moon ushered in the new reality of Apple in Hollywood, with a similar release cycle that saw it open in theatres on October 20, 2023, before going on sale through Paramount Home Entertainment on December 5, and finally landing on Apple TV+ on January 12, 2024.

Now, Ridley Scott’s Napoleon is the next in line, although it’s taking slightly longer to come to Apple’s streaming service. The film premiered in Paris on November 14, 2023, with a US and UK release a week later on November 22. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment put it up for digital sale on January 9, 2024, along with releasing it to premium video-on-demand services.

This week, Apple announced its new historical action epic will come to Apple TV+ on March 1, 2024 — about a week later than it took Killers of the Flower Moon to come to the service following its theatrical and digital releases.

Nevertheless, Napoleon has already received several award nominations, including Academy Awards for Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, and Best Visual Effects, as well as British Academy of Film and Television (BAFTA) award nominations for Outstanding British Film of the Year, Best Costume Design, Best Make Up & Hair and Best Special Visual Effects.

While Napoleon director Ridley Scott is perhaps best known for his work on Alien and Blade Runner, he’s also an iconic name among Apple fans, having directed the company’s iconic 1984 ad, which has been placed on the list of the top 50 greatest commercials for what many call a watershed moment in advertising history.

So it’s probably karmic synergy that Scott is now directing what could become one of Apple’s next award-winning masterpieces. In Napoleon, Joaquin Phoenix portrays the French emperor and military leader in a more focused look at his personal life and his arguably toxic relationship with his wife and one true love, Josephine, played by Vanessa Kirby. However, the film is not purely a dramatic telling of Napoleon’s life and career, and there’s plenty of action to go around as it shows six of his most epic battles and his relentless and ruthless climb to emperor — and his inevitable demise.

Napoleon has already made about $220 million at the box office, with most critics unsurprisingly saying the best parts of the movie are found not in the storytelling but in Scott’s incredible battle sequences. The film runs two-and-a-half hours, and there are rumors that an extended four-hour Director’s Cut is also in the works, although these haven’t been confirmed.

Apple’s penchant for big theatrical releases stems from its efforts to be taken seriously in Hollywood so it can attract the kind of talent needed to produce great films. Apple has had ambitions of winning Academy Awards since before Apple TV+ debuted, and its star has been rising over the past two years after it made history by becoming the first streaming service to receive an Oscar for Best Picture with its 2021 release of CODA, beating more established rivals like Netflix to the highly coveted award.

Last year, sources revealed Apple is committed to spending $1 billion per year on big-screen theatrical releases, and while it’s a safe bet all of those will land on Apple TV+ eventually, we’re likely to see many more films like Killers of the Flower Moon and Napoleon hitting the big screen under the Apple Studios banner. Apple’s $200 million star-studded spy drama Argylle opened in theatres on February 2, 2024 — the same day the Vision Pro landed in stores — and while there’s no word yet on when it’s coming to Apple TV+ if the company follows its previous release cycle, we can expect digital sales to open in mid-March, followed by a late April or early May Apple TV+ release.