Ridley Scott's 2023 Historical Epic Is a Streaming Sensation After Flopping at the Box Office

Ridley Scott has been known to sink some cash into his films. Whether he’s going for a historical epic or leaning into his sci-fi musings, you’d better believe that money will be spent. Whether it will be well spent is a different question altogether and really depends on who you ask, especially for the director’s project currently charging its way up Apple TV’s Top 10. It’s been nearly two years since Joaquin Phoenix and Scott reunited for an exploration into one of the most famous men in history with the feature Napoleon, and, despite its mixed reception upon its cinematic arrival, it’s currently preparing to do battle with other favorites on the streamer, like Jon Watts’ Wolfs and Scott Derrickson’s The Gorge.

As its title would suggest, Napoleon centers its story around that of Napoleon Bonaparte and his rise to power and the multitude of downfalls that came along the way. Beginning at the French Revolution and ending with his death in 1821, Scott and screenplay writer, David Scarpa, covered quite a bit of ground from title card to credits. Along with the kinds of grandiose battle sequences that one would expect from the award-winning director, the story also focused much of its time charting the course of the tumultuous relationship between Phoenix’s Napoleon and his wife, Joséphine (Vanessa Kirby), with both stars giving career-defining performances throughout.

On paper, Napoleon had all the makings of a hit. With Phoenix and Kirby leading the charge, and a Thanksgiving opening weekend, things looked pretty promising. Its only major competition was Disney’s animated venture, Wish, while Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn was also enjoying a wider release post-turkey day. By the time all was said and done, Napoleon rode out of cinemas with more than $221 million in global sales, but considering its production budget of roughly $200 million, the film barely broke even. And then came its reviews. Both critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie a 53% approval rating, but, despite this, it went on to nab a handful of award nominations, including three Oscar nods.

Ridley Scott’s Return to Sci-Fi

The last several years have seen Scott put out one historical or biographical flick after the next, delivering audiences All the Money in the World, The Last Duel, House of Gucci, Napoleon, and Gladiator II. Next, he’ll shift gears back to his bread and butter of sci-fi, with a post-apocalyptic film titled The Dog Stars, which features Jacob Elordi and Josh Brolin in leading roles.

Napoleon is now streaming on Apple TV.