The latest film that Apple TV+ has picked up is Ridley Scott’s “KitBag.” The movie centers around Napoleon’s origin story and his “swift, ruthless climb to emperor.” Joaquin Phoenix is slated to play the French ruler.

Reported by Deadline, “Kitbag” is a passion project from Ridley Scott that will leverage his company Scott Free Productions. Apple has agreed to both finance and help produce the movie with work starting in the UK in early 2022.

The screenplay was written by David Scarpa and Scott will produce alongside Kevin Walsh. Here’s what Scott had to say about the film:

Scott is confident there’s no one better than Joaquin Phoenix to play the role of Napoleon and he also said the same of working with Apple to produce it:

“Napoleon is a man I’ve always been fascinated by,” Scott told Deadline. “He came out of nowhere to rule everything — but all the while he was waging a romantic war with his adulterous wife Josephine. He conquered the world to try to win her love, and when he couldn’t, he conquered it to destroy her, and destroyed himself in the process.”

The name of the film comes from the quote “There is a general’s staff hidden in every soldier’s kitbag.”

“No actor could ever embody Napoleon like Joaquin,” Scott said. “He created one of movie history’s most complex Emperors in Gladiator, and we’ll create another with his Napoleon. It’s a brilliant script written by David Scarpa, and today there’s no better partner than Apple to bring a story like this to a global audience.”

Notably, Apple Studios has a first look deal with Scot Free Productions for TV projects.

The film is an original and personal look at Napoleon’s origins and his swift, ruthless climb to emperor, viewed through the prism of his addictive and often volatile relationship with his wife and one true love, Josephine. The intention of the film is to capture Napoleon’s famous battles, relentless ambition and astounding strategic mind as an extraordinary military leader and war visionary.

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