Xixax Film Forum

The Director's Chair => Stanley Kubrick => Topic started by: cowboykurtis on April 05, 2003, 10:08:47 PM

Title: NAPOLEON
Post by: cowboykurtis on April 05, 2003, 10:08:47 PM
has any one heard that a warner brothers is tyring to get kubricks Napoleon screenplay produced?
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: MacGuffin on April 05, 2003, 11:16:02 PM
I have learned however that Warner Brothers is planning to produce the film based on Kubrick's script. Details are sketchy and no director has been announced yet. However the Internet is a vast and wonderful place and I have learned of rumors that Ridley Scott is interested in the script. Almost no details exist yet to confirm or deny this rumor, but it certainly is an interesting one.

Rest of article here. (http://www.filmjerk.com/nuke/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=116)
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: cine on April 06, 2003, 11:27:20 PM
If it does happen and for some reason Scott won't do it.. they should hunt down Julie Taymor.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: ElPandaRoyal on October 19, 2003, 07:14:59 AM
Maybe Jean-Pierre Jeunet could do it, with Dominique Pinon as Napoleon himself.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: mutinyco on October 19, 2003, 09:36:33 AM
I don't know of any directors out there who'd have ability to make a film like Barry Lyndon. So I'm not sure who a good directorial choice for this would be. A director with that little pity.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Gamblour. on October 19, 2003, 02:06:39 PM
Danny Devito for Napoleon!   :wink:
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: mutinyco on October 19, 2003, 04:05:43 PM
Too old. Maybe Topher Grace!
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: ElPandaRoyal on October 20, 2003, 05:32:10 AM
What about me for Napoleon? I'm short in stature and everything... I can't act though, but I don't see why it could be such a problem. I'm gonna keep my eyes wide open for casting sessions for the film and in a few year, you'll see me at the Academy Awards, with that golden dildo-like thing in my hand and thanking the Xixax boards who told me about the movie that was going to be made and then, well, I'd wake up and realize I had been dreaming and my life life is the same and I'm wearing the same five dollar shoes everyday.

Sorry for this post. I'm on crack.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: cine on October 20, 2003, 08:35:42 AM
My vote goes to Peter Dinklage:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imdb.com%2FPhotos%2FEvents%2F1794%2FPeterDrink_Vespa_827950_400.jpg&hash=b3639de3acf4291d1c1e5e6315d39e3dddc19a64)
Keep those jazz hands up, Peter! You're doing great!
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Cecil on October 20, 2003, 11:03:15 AM
no no no, napoleon should be a complete cgi creation as to further kill the artform
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: cowboykurtis on May 10, 2005, 12:46:38 PM
has anyone heard anything new about this?
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: modage on May 10, 2005, 02:53:00 PM
last i heard, kubrick was still dead.

just kidding, ck.  





but seriously, he is dead.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Ghostboy on May 10, 2005, 03:04:48 PM
When I was at the Kubrick exhibit earlier this year, someone asked Jan Harlan about that, and he said (if I remember correctly) that they did want to still make it, but that the prospects of it scared a lot of people. I know he mentioned Ang Lee at one point, although it might have been in a different context....
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: cowboykurtis on May 10, 2005, 04:14:52 PM
I've been trying to think of directors that could pull this off - obviously no one could do justice to kubrick's vision

my stock in ang lee has plumetted.

i'd imagine many filmmakers being intimidated by this -- would be a lot on their shoulders in teh critical community. they'd almost be setting themselves up for scrutiny and failure.

I had read an article about 2 years ago that Mark Romanek had expressed interest. From what I can gather Romanek is a hardcore kubrick admirer/wannabe - i've even heard that the beard he wears was bought/stolen from the kubrick estate.

i just hope spielberg doesnt take a crack at it.

id be curious to see Polanski take a crack
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Ghostboy on May 10, 2005, 04:37:14 PM
Your Ang Lee stock should come back up after Brokeback Mountain comes out in the fall. Which will then be followed by a slight slide if he does a Crouching Tiger prequel.

Jonathan Glazer has Romanek beat, as far as Kubrickation goes. Terence Malick would be an interesting choice, perhaps. Michael Mann does well with biopics and historical epics, so he could combine the two.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Gamblour. on May 10, 2005, 05:30:08 PM
Watching Romanek's One Hour Photo again recently, and recalling the first time I saw it, it's very kiddie-Kubrickish. The movie's not so good actually, even though I liked it and bought the dvd. It's because of Robin Williams I think. Anyhow, Romanek would do an OK job, but that's it I think.

Ghostboy, did you actually like Ali? It's my least favorite Mann flick. I think Mann's niche is the crime genre, and that's it really. Heat and Collateral are just amazing.

Shit, why not dream about Scorsese making this? That would be incredible. A true great working on the greatest's dream. Let's just keep Ridley Scott and Wolfgang Petersen and Oliver Stone away from this.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Ghostboy on May 10, 2005, 05:33:58 PM
Quote from: Gamblor Posts DrunkHeat and Collateral are just amazing.

Yes, but The Insider and Last Of The Mohicans are his best films. That's what I was basing my judgment on.

Ridley Scott would be rather blah for this. Scorsese could be cool. But I'd rather see someone young (relatively speaking) take a crack at it. Someone with something to prove, not something to live up to.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: cowboykurtis on May 10, 2005, 07:29:06 PM
I think Mann would fuck the goat on Napoleon....harlan should just get that Mel Gibson chap to do it -- Jesus/Napoleon....same thing.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: modage on May 10, 2005, 11:04:45 PM
i'd like to see a young director take crack.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Gold Trumpet on May 10, 2005, 11:41:51 PM
The problem I have with about every director mentioned above is that they have a style and touch that they inject into their films. Obviously doing this film means not tampering with material many people are very protective of. Its not that I don't mind tampering just for the sake of tampering, but I don't see any of the directors adding quality to the screenplay with their style.

That being said, I actually pick Ang Lee. He's the one most proven to direct a film according to the script and not his own interests.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: jigzaw on September 22, 2005, 03:31:07 PM
A couple years ago, Jan Harlan announced that Kubrick's Napoleon script would be published in book form.   Where is it????
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: MacGuffin on September 22, 2005, 03:33:47 PM
Quote from: jigzawA couple years ago, Jan Harlan announced that Kubrick's Napoleon script would be published in book form.   Where is it????

Quote from: In the Stanley Kubrick Archives thread, cowboykurtisexcerpt from an interview with the book's editor, Allison Castle....and here it is:

AC: Surely "Napoleon" would have been a phenomenal film if Kubrick had been able to find the backing for the project. "A.I" would also have been amazing, if Kubrick had lived long enough to make use of the effects technology we have now. In fact, any film that he might have made would have been a Kubrick film, and thus an exceptional piece of cinema. (You might say I'm biased, but this is how I feel.)

SS: Are you aware of any developments in the release of the Napoleon screenplay?

AC: The screenplay will be published in TASCHEN's upcoming book about Kubrick's "Napoleon" project, due next spring.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Pubrick on October 14, 2005, 02:23:30 AM
napoleon
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Pubrick on October 14, 2005, 03:16:34 AM
NAPOLEON
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: 72teeth on October 14, 2005, 04:00:39 AM
THICKE
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: I Don't Believe in Beatles on August 16, 2006, 07:00:25 PM
Quote from: MacGuffin on September 22, 2005, 03:33:47 PM
Quote from: jigzawA couple years ago, Jan Harlan announced that Kubrick's Napoleon script would be published in book form.   Where is it????

Quote from: In the Stanley Kubrick Archives thread, cowboykurtisexcerpt from an interview with the book's editor, Allison Castle....and here it is:

AC: Surely "Napoleon" would have been a phenomenal film if Kubrick had been able to find the backing for the project. "A.I" would also have been amazing, if Kubrick had lived long enough to make use of the effects technology we have now. In fact, any film that he might have made would have been a Kubrick film, and thus an exceptional piece of cinema. (You might say I'm biased, but this is how I feel.)

SS: Are you aware of any developments in the release of the Napoleon screenplay?

AC: The screenplay will be published in TASCHEN's upcoming book about Kubrick's "Napoleon" project, due next spring.

So has there been any more recent news about this at all?  I checked Taschen's site and don't see anything about it, but I did find this, which promises to be badass: http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/books/film/work/facts/01376.htm
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: modage on February 25, 2009, 06:45:06 PM
Kubrick Napoleon
Source: Hollywood Elsewhere

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fhollywood-elsewhere.com%2Fimages%2Fcolumn%2F3109%2Fkubricknapoleon.jpg&hash=7541877f8c80a6c6355115bcb5feb7ddb5f92a19)

Four months from now another big Stanley Kubrick coffee-table book called Stanley Kubrick: The Napoleon Film (http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Kubrick-Napoleon-Alison-Castle/dp/3822830658/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235584693&sr=8-6) will be published by Tachen, running 1900 pages and costing I don't know what....$300? Written by Allison Castle and edited by Christiane Kubrick (i.e., Kubrick's widow), it will focus entirely on the famous Napoleon biopic that Kubrick began working on in '68 and bailed on a couple of years later -- i.e., "the greatest film that Kubrick never made." (http://archive.salon.com/ent/movies/feature/2000/10/04/napoleon/index.html)

In a 1969 interview for his anthology book, The Film Director as Superstar, Joseph Gelmis asked Kubrick to define his passion about making a Napoleon movie.

"That's a question that would really take this entire interview to answer," Kubrick replied. "To begin with, he fascinates me. His life has been described as an epic poem of action. His sex life was worthy of Arthur Schnitzler. He was one of those rare men who move history and mold the destiny of their own times and of generations to come -- in a very concrete sense, our own world is the result of Napoleon, just as the political and geographic map of postwar Europe is the result of World War Two.

"And, of course, there has never been a good or accurate movie about him. Also, I find that all the issues with which it concerns itself are oddly contemporary -- the responsibilities and abuses of power, the dynamics of social revolution, the relationship of the individual to the state, war, militarism, etc., so this will not be just a dusty historic pageant but a film about the basic questions of our own times, as well as Napoleon's.

"But even apart from those aspects of the story, the sheer drama and force of Napoleon's life is a fantastic subject for a film biography. Forgetting everything else and just taking Napoleon's romantic involvement with Josephine, for example, here you have one of the great obsessional passions of all time."

It was said by Mystery Man after quoting the preceding passage that Napoleon's obsessional passion for Josephine is second only to Kubrick's passion for Napoleon."

http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2009/02/kubrick_napoleo.php
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: hedwig on February 25, 2009, 09:21:52 PM
1900 pages? sounds like a cruel joke. there's nothing on taschen's site.

either way, pubrick called it..

Quote from: Pubrick on July 11, 2005, 12:29:28 PM
i hope to god they make a follow up, tho i doubt it. i mean an extensive 500 page follow up on napoleon, for example, to the point that u forget where u live cos all u can think about is kubrick and napoleon.. that would be lovely.

please be real.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: modage on February 26, 2009, 08:10:50 AM
it's on amazon.  i think it's the real deal.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Fernando on February 26, 2009, 09:09:00 AM
Quote from: modage on February 24, 2009, 03:32:05 PM
!!!HOLY SHIT ALERT!!!

Quote from: modage on February 25, 2009, 06:45:06 PM
Kubrick Napoleon
Source: Hollywood Elsewhere

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fhollywood-elsewhere.com%2Fimages%2Fcolumn%2F3109%2Fkubricknapoleon.jpg&hash=7541877f8c80a6c6355115bcb5feb7ddb5f92a19)


O.M.G.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi7.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy251%2Ffbv%2Fdrools.jpg&hash=319aae5fa7917467f2eab5c5d203afad12a60296)

I hope it's not as pricey as the Godfather Family Album ($1800  :shock:), if it's $200 or less I'll be a happy man. fyi, the peso has lost 50% its value against the dollar, it went from $10 pesos to $15 in the last moths, so more than $200 is a lot of $$$.

Quote from: Hedwig on February 25, 2009, 09:21:52 PM
please be real.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Xx on March 01, 2009, 12:11:45 AM
...
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: picolas on March 01, 2009, 02:51:40 AM
Quote from: flagpolespecial on March 01, 2009, 12:11:45 AM
Will buy, no matter how much it costs.
shhh! taschen has eyes and ears everywhere.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Pubrick on September 18, 2009, 10:53:12 AM
it's real.. they're calling it "The Best Book Ever Made of the Best Movie Never Made"

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.taschen.com%2Fmedia%2Fimages%2F640%2Fpage_ce_kubrick_napoleon_04_0906231048_id_140099.jpg&hash=2fea24a97299430defecd7fa8dbde8062257903d)
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.taschen.com%2Fmedia%2Fimages%2F640%2Fpage_ce_kubrick_napoleon_03_0903241557_id_140089.jpg&hash=d574cce60a793de770e885c8a2f44843d65568ce)
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.taschen.com%2Fmedia%2Fimages%2F640%2Fpage_ce_kubrick_napoleon_09_0903241559_id_251622.jpg&hash=faea0faaf2ea770ce0824b0ad5699950d5157438)

http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/film/all/03844/facts.stanley_kubricks_napoleon_the_greatest_movie_never_made.htm

UK£ 450.00 = 735.03 U.S. dollars

what a gyp. be a chump if you want but i wouldn't buy this if i was half that price, or even the same price as the orginal SKA.

it's basically hollowed-out book with a bunch of neat little picture booklets inside. pictures are fucking useless if they are like the example in the third pic, what use is that? even tiny scans of kubrick's chicken scratch have limited value at the resolution you get in these things. the SKA was 50% useless because of pictures. and the offer of exclusive access to 17000 MORE pictures online is even greater reason not to buy it. all it takes is one mad cunt to leak the password or whatever and you've saved yourself a GRAND (*AUS dollars).

wait for the xmas sale when it's $50.00 or better yet just do a google image search in a couple years.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Fernando on September 18, 2009, 11:16:18 AM
now im glad I didn't post this yesterday. your absence was like a knife in fernando's heart (hedwig's too im sure)  :yabbse-grin:


anyway, ill blame flagpole for the price. as much as id love to have it it's waaaay too expansive, I too wouldn't pay even half, maybe less than 200 and that's still pricey, and what's the point of making only 1000 copies? so yeah, ill wait til it drops to 50 bucks.

Quote from: P on September 18, 2009, 10:53:12 AM
pictures are fucking useless if they are like the example in the third pic, what use is that?

couldn't agree more, and I'd like to think that ppl even wondering to buy this have seen the boxes doc, so it really is useless to have a pic of a damn file cabinet.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Pozer on September 18, 2009, 12:11:17 PM
the prodigal P returns (https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbonanzaworld.net%2Fbee.gif&hash=c76172ab40aded296401acd32bb1d02abb536e6a)
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Alexandro on September 18, 2009, 01:57:35 PM
looks like a ripp off.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Xx on November 11, 2009, 03:43:25 AM
...

Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Xx on November 11, 2009, 09:21:22 AM
...
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: tpfkabi on November 11, 2009, 11:14:23 AM
i would love to look through that, but the other SK book is $70 now.

is that version exactly the same other than the 2001 frames?
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Xx on November 11, 2009, 01:05:57 PM
...
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: tpfkabi on November 11, 2009, 02:59:57 PM
thanks for the comparison.

i think i'll wait and hope for a cheaper Napoleon because i hate my frames and i don't think i've even listen to the CD - maybe i need to do that. the book is so cumbersome that it's very hard to store. i have no empty bookshelf for it so i keep it in the box it was shipped in to prevent dust and move it from place to place not wanting to stack anything on top of it.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Pozer on November 11, 2009, 09:40:26 PM
Quote from: bigideas on November 11, 2009, 02:59:57 PM
i don't think i've even listen to the CD

you spent all that money on a book of someone youre supposedly a fan of and have never listened to his rare audio interview?

dont answer. 
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: tpfkabi on November 12, 2009, 09:23:36 AM
sure.
i bought it just so i could impress people i've never met in person or could visually authenticate my claim.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Xx on November 18, 2009, 10:29:35 AM
...
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: tpfkabi on November 18, 2009, 10:44:18 AM
Quote from: flagpolespecial on November 18, 2009, 10:29:35 AM
i am also going to stanley kubrick's house on dec 8th as one of 100 invited guests. Jan Harlan will be there, i expect christiane will be there too.

document it if they let you - and find me one of Kubrick's favorite shirts.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Pozer on November 18, 2009, 10:59:54 AM
Quote from: flagpolespecial on November 18, 2009, 10:29:35 AM
i am also going to stanley kubrick's house on dec 8th as one of 100 invited guests. Jan Harlan will be there, i expect christiane will be there too.

what makes flagpoles so special?

:yabbse-thumbup: good for you  :yabbse-thumbup:
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Fernando on November 18, 2009, 11:47:28 AM
Quote from: bigideas on November 18, 2009, 10:44:18 AM
Quote from: flagpolespecial on November 18, 2009, 10:29:35 AM
i am also going to stanley kubrick's house on dec 8th as one of 100 invited guests. Jan Harlan will be there, i expect christiane will be there too.

document it if they let you - and find me one of Kubrick's favorite shirts.

and with pics too. and when you tell us about it please do so in great detail.


omg, that is so awesome, congrats you lucky son of a gun.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: SiliasRuby on November 18, 2009, 12:41:13 PM
Jealousy is steaming from my nostrils.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: socketlevel on November 18, 2009, 03:17:04 PM
ya dude that's pretty cool. congrats. if i had the money i'd buy it. i had the larger printing of the other book.  my frame wasn't too bad but not great either, it's of HAL... but a long shot of him.

too bad i'm broke as a joke these days.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: tpfkabi on November 18, 2009, 04:52:59 PM
mine is of black space - i think it's right before star-child, because there is a hint of the blue glow in the right corner. of course, in frames it may be way on down the line.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Xx on November 18, 2009, 06:05:37 PM
...

Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: modage on November 18, 2009, 09:51:55 PM
How did you get to be 1 of 100 invited guests?  Do the other 99 also have tattoos and defend him in conversation?  :yabbse-grin:
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: socketlevel on November 19, 2009, 01:30:30 AM
Quote from: bigideas on November 18, 2009, 04:52:59 PM
mine is of black space - i think it's right before star-child, because there is a hint of the blue glow in the right corner. of course, in frames it may be way on down the line.

i seriously laughed out loud, i can't believe they didn't throw those frames out. you got humped in the bum.

seriously it must have been one print of the film they used in all the books, and they just cut 12 frames for each book.  that's still a fuckton of frames, and really they could have ditched the all black frames.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Fernando on November 19, 2009, 11:21:06 AM
Quote from: flagpolespecial on November 18, 2009, 06:05:37 PM
perhaps i should buy a minidisc recorder put it in my pocket and just leave it running all night?!?

YES.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: tpfkabi on November 19, 2009, 02:00:14 PM
Quote from: socketlevel on November 19, 2009, 01:30:30 AM
Quote from: bigideas on November 18, 2009, 04:52:59 PM
mine is of black space - i think it's right before star-child, because there is a hint of the blue glow in the right corner. of course, in frames it may be way on down the line.

i seriously laughed out loud, i can't believe they didn't throw those frames out. you got humped in the bum.

seriously it must have been one print of the film they used in all the books, and they just cut 12 frames for each book.  that's still a fuckton of frames, and really they could have ditched the all black frames.

you might can see the planet on the left - i'd have to get it back out.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: socketlevel on November 19, 2009, 06:28:12 PM
Quote from: bigideas on November 19, 2009, 02:00:14 PM
Quote from: socketlevel on November 19, 2009, 01:30:30 AM
Quote from: bigideas on November 18, 2009, 04:52:59 PM
mine is of black space - i think it's right before star-child, because there is a hint of the blue glow in the right corner. of course, in frames it may be way on down the line.

i seriously laughed out loud, i can't believe they didn't throw those frames out. you got humped in the bum.

seriously it must have been one print of the film they used in all the books, and they just cut 12 frames for each book.  that's still a fuckton of frames, and really they could have ditched the all black frames.

you might can see the planet on the left - i'd have to get it back out.

i got mine out and the optical soundtrack bled to the plastic housing, like it slightly melted to it.  maybe i should have aired it a while ago.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Xx on November 20, 2009, 10:01:19 AM
...
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: picolas on November 20, 2009, 04:06:06 PM
:yabbse-sad:
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: matt35mm on November 20, 2009, 04:08:36 PM
 :bravo:
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: SiliasRuby on November 20, 2009, 11:14:52 PM
Do NOT take a picture holding that while frowning, its blasphemy.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Ordet on November 28, 2009, 06:26:53 PM
 :bravo:
let us in on the details.
cheers :yabbse-grin:
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Xx on December 08, 2009, 06:16:09 PM
...
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on December 09, 2009, 11:23:12 PM
Did you see his wardrobe?  What kind of shirts does he wear?
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: MacGuffin on December 11, 2009, 04:50:13 PM
Kubrick's Napoleon complex
Taschen publishes account of "lost epic"
Source: Variety

Beginning as early as 1967, even as he was still in post on "2001: A Space Odyssey," Stanley Kubrick spent the better part of the next three years meticulously, comprehensively, obsessively researching the life of Napoleon, a project that would combine the themes of social revolution, political corruption, star-crossed romance and the kind of hubris that had become the filmmaker's trademark.

A notorious perfectionist, Kubrick, with the help of a research team, pored through hundreds of books on the subject, amassed 17,000 images from the period, cross-referenced events in the lives of key figures and wrote a voluminous treatment followed by a literate screenplay featuring a voiceover from three different POVs. Budgets were drawn, costumes were made, locations were scouted and photographed, actors approached (Oskar Werner was offered the title role, while Audrey Hepburn turned down the part of Josephine) and even the armies of Romania and Yugoslavia were approached for the requisite "cast of thousands" accuracy that Kubrick demanded in his battle scenes, which he described as "vast lethal ballets."

But even while Kubrick wasattaining visionary status inside and outside Hollywood, timing conspired against him. Historic costume epics on the scale of Napoleon had gone out of vogue, and with a competing film in the works, the ill-fated "Waterloo" (1970), MGM pulled out of the project, followed by the financially strapped United Artists. Along with Orson Welles' "The Big Brass Ring" and Warren Beatty's long-planned Howard Hughes biopic, Kubrick's "Napoleon" might be the most compelling what-could-have-been in the annals of filmmaking.

But art book publisher Taschen, with the aid of the Kubrick estate, has mounted a lavish package devoted to the project, with an equally lavish $700 pricetag. The limited edition of 1,000 numbered copies, titled "Stanley Kubrick's 'Napoleon': The Greatest Film Never Made," edited by Alison Castle, contains all the aforementioned materials, as well as production notes, the director's correspondence with MGM and such figures as Oxford professor and Napoleon biographer Felix Markham -- all in 10 volumes.

The set of books not only takes the reader deep into Kubrick's mindset, but suggests aspects of "Napoleon" foreshadowed future Kubrick hallmarks: the omniscient narrator and the high-speed lenses that made the candle-lit scenes in "Barry Lyndon" so revolutionary; the boundary-pushing nudity and sex of "A Clockwork Orange" and "Eyes Wide Shut"; the horrors of war made apparent in "Full Metal Jacket."

It might not be the most realistic gift of this recessionary holiday season, but the value to filmmakers and Kubrick fanatics may be priceless.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: modage on December 15, 2009, 03:43:28 PM
Quote from: flagpolespecial on December 08, 2009, 06:16:09 PM
details to come later.

Give us the scoop.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Pozer on December 15, 2009, 08:44:14 PM
Quote from: modage on December 15, 2009, 03:43:28 PM
Quote from: flagpolespecial on December 08, 2009, 06:16:09 PM
details to come later.

Give us the scoop.

yes, as well as on

Quote from: ρ on September 18, 2009, 10:53:12 AM
The Best Book Ever Made of the Best Movie Never Made that We'll Never Own.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: for petes sake on February 18, 2010, 05:34:09 PM
http://www.viceland.com/blogs/uk-film/2010/02/10/stanley-kubricks-napoleon-a-lot-of-work-very-little-actual-movie/

Not a particularly informative article/interview but some wonderful images for those of us who can't afford the book.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: children with angels on April 21, 2010, 03:16:39 AM
Two videos of a discussion that went on at the BFI about Napoleon, called 'The Greatest Movie Never Made?'...

Part 1: http://www.bfi.org.uk/live/video/273

Part 2: http://www.bfi.org.uk/live/video/274
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Pubrick on April 22, 2010, 12:04:56 AM
Quote from: children with angels on April 21, 2010, 03:16:39 AM
Two videos of a discussion that went on at the BFI about Napoleon, called 'The Greatest Movie Never Made?'...

Part 1: http://www.bfi.org.uk/live/video/273

Part 2: http://www.bfi.org.uk/live/video/274

there's some really good insight in these clips. mostly from jan harlan in the second one.

the first one is basically them reading the book out, or at least some tame presentation that is just advertising the book. the second one reveals that DAVID HEMMINGS was the frontrunner to play napoleon at the time that they were ready to shoot, before MGM pulled the plug.. that's news to me, i knew there were other names in the running but i didn't think that he'd actually decided on who would play the part at any point (other than jack which must have been an overblown rumour). David Hemmings would have been great, he has a MUCH more intense look than jacky boy and looks way more intelligent.

another reveal is not so much fact but Jan Harlan's speculation that the film for stanley would be intended to be relevant to modern times. i think there's a lot truth in this insight (and here's where it gets slippery cos it's my interpretation of jan's interpretaion of possibly kubricks interpretation of his own film) but not limited to a topical analysis like Jan suggests by contextualizing the production around the time of the vietnam war. that's fine but kubrick DID address the vietnam war and when he did he wasn't really just talking about the vietnam war. so by this, taking the scope of what napoleon the film would hav been (global), and the scope of his most recent film up to that point (2001 - universal) he would hav DEFINITELY been making parallels to modern times, but probably about superpowers in general. that in itself makes me wish i hadn't said it cos nothing kubrick ever did was ever just about ONE thing. anyway, Jan is to be trusted at least when he offers his insights.

i think Jan Harlan is one of the most genuine ppl when it comes to talking about kubrick, he isn't trying to sell himself or make amends for the past like Malcolm McDowell, and his relation to kubrick seems less reverent than the one Leon Vitali had -- both Harlan and Vitali are the ones to believe when it comes to kubrick stories but the latter i think feels much more protective about his information, or in any case less forthcoming, and i think it's due to kubrick being a kind of father figure for him. Harlan on the other hand, feels like he would hav had a brotherly relation with kubrick, being his brother-in-law and all.

i wonder what will happen when jan and christiane and leon pass on, who will take up the duties of keeping up the standards of kubrick's legacy? the university of the arts in london has his archives now, so they've clearly thought about the future in this way.. but they're not spokesman. and i left out kubrick's other assistants in the list (anthony frewin, brian cook) cos i don't know how much work they still do for the SK estate. as well as his daughters, who should be allowed to live their own lives.

it's common for these arrangements to be made when it comes to authors, cos their work needs to be protected from FILMMAKERS and other ppl. see: Tolkien. but i think kubrick is one of the rare cases where we will see increased or at least sustained interest in his work from a historical and artistic perspective. and information on his innovations, influences, concerns, methods, and insights will be highly sought after as it becomes more apparent that he was THE significant artist of the 20th century, on the scale of the great rennaissance painters and early 20th century authors like Joyce or Proust.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: New Feeling on April 05, 2011, 03:26:49 AM
just ordered the fuck out of the cheap ($50) version of this book which I guess was released this week.  Very much looking forward to it's arrival.   
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: tpfkabi on April 05, 2011, 07:08:54 PM
Seems to be a few complaints with this version on Amazon, but it also appears to come with a download code for Taschen's site.

Anyone seen this in person?
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: P Heat on April 06, 2011, 01:07:07 AM
I have this scripted bookmarked on my browser. I don't get to read it much but what i have reminds me alot of Barry Lyndon and full metal jacket :yabbse-grin:
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: MacGuffin on November 26, 2013, 09:11:00 PM
Baz Luhrmann Circling HBO's Stanley Kubrick-Scripted Napoleon Miniseries For Steven Spielberg
BY MIKE FLEMING JR | Deadline
   
EXCLUSIVE: Back when he was in France to head the Cannes Film Festival jury, Steven Spielberg dropped a bombshell when he announced that he would turn an un-produced Stanley Kubrick screenplay about Napoleon Bonaparte into a miniseries. Well, here's another bombshell: They are courting Baz Luhrmann to direct the mini at HBO.

Deals are a long way from being made, but I'm told the plan is for Luhrmann to take on what becomes the highest-profile miniseries at that payweb. When Spielberg first revealed the project in an interview with Canal Plus on French TV, he said that this was the project Kubrick had dreamed of making, only to drop it when Hollywood studios refused to fund it, even after Kubrick promised in a letter to studio executives in 1971 that it would be the best movie ever made. Indeed, the movie has been coined "the greatest movie never made."

Luhrmann, who last directed the hit The Great Gatsby, isn't the only helmer interested in the diminutive French conqueror. Warner Bros just set Snow White And The Huntsman helmer Rupert Sanders to direct a feature about Napoleon. This isn't the first time Lurhmann has been in a competitive situation on an historic project: He was gearing up to direct Leonardo DiCaprio in Alexander The Great, but was beaten to the punch back in 2003 by the Oliver Stone-directed Alexander, with Colin Farrell in the title role. The nice thing here is that these are very different projects — HBO's will be much longer — but for Luhrmann, the payweb tends to move quickly. He's repped by WME.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: socketlevel on November 27, 2013, 03:49:17 PM
I hate Baz, I love Stanley, I guess i can only be impressed with the end result at this point.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Sleepless on November 27, 2013, 08:24:33 PM
Dinklage for sure.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Fernando on May 20, 2016, 12:41:17 PM
Cary Fukunaga To Direct Stanley Kubrick Dream Project 'Napoleon' For HBO, Steven Spielberg Producing

HBO is preparing a miniseries based on Stanley Kubrick's research for a film dubbed his "greatest never-made film" — a planned story on French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte's 19th century struggle to bring Europe under his total control. True Detective Emmy winner Cary Fukunaga is in talks to direct the mini, which is in development at the premium cable network.

Kubrick spent years in the 1960s researching the film he intended to shoot in France, Britain and Romania, using 30,000 members of the then-communist country's army for vast battle scenes.

Plans for the project were shelved — after Kubrick had written a script and created a meticulous database of more than 17,000 images of Napoleonic-era paintings and artifacts — partially because the release of Soviet director Sergei Bondarchuk's films War and Peace and later Waterloo made it a tougher commercial proposition.

Kubrick's family — including sister Christine and Jan Harlan, the latter an executive producer on many of his films — have now opened the archive to HBO. The project is inspired by Kubrick's work-in-progress original script and will be informed by the Kubrick estate and his extensive, personally curated archive.

The move comes three years after reports of interest in revisiting the project when Steven Spielberg said he was developing a TV miniseries based on the research. Spielberg, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey will exec produce the project via their Amblin Television banner. The drama is a co-production with HBO and MGM.

Harlan told The Hollywood Reporter that HBO Films president Len Amato and writer/co-exec producer David Leland visited the family's big archives in the U.K. to study and copy items. The long-in-the-works drama previously drew interest from director Baz Luhrmann in 2013, with the drama back in development now with Fukunaga.

"I am sure HBO will take full advantage of the material we have. We have provided [them] with stacks of material," he said. "I am delighted that Stanley's huge efforts may finally lead to a film."

Fukunaga directed and exec produced season one of HBO anthology True Detective and counts Beasts of No Nation among his credits. He's also prepping The Alienist for TNT. British-born Leland has a long career as an actor, writer and director, whose credits include Showtime's The Borgias.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Sleepless on May 28, 2016, 03:14:26 PM
I'm glad this thread got bumped because I've been meaning to post in here. Recently watched the special features on third Hobbit and Peter Jackson was talking a lot about Napoleonic battles as he discussed his approach to staging the battle. Was thinking this'd be an interesting project for him to take on, but oh well.
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: Sleepless on March 26, 2018, 02:59:30 PM
The Greatest Movie Never Made: Ten books in one tell the fascinating tale of Kubrick’s unfilmed masterpiece (https://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/film/all/44830/facts.stanley_kubricks_napoleon_the_greatest_movie_never_made.htm?utm_source=RakutenMarketing&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=2116208:Skimlinks.com&utm_content=10&utm_term=UKNetwork&ranMID=42784&ranEAID=TnL5HPStwNw&ranSiteID=TnL5HPStwNw-Fox27rDOKbUnUYwENFYqqw)

I want.

(Save yourself $20 and get it on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Kubricks-Napoleon-Greatest-Movie/dp/3836568896/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522094394&sr=8-1&keywords=the+greatest+movie+never+made))
Title: Re: NAPOLEON
Post by: csage97 on March 27, 2018, 12:21:54 AM
Quote from: Sleepless on March 26, 2018, 02:59:30 PM
The Greatest Movie Never Made: Ten books in one tell the fascinating tale of Kubrick's unfilmed masterpiece (https://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/film/all/44830/facts.stanley_kubricks_napoleon_the_greatest_movie_never_made.htm?utm_source=RakutenMarketing&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=2116208:Skimlinks.com&utm_content=10&utm_term=UKNetwork&ranMID=42784&ranEAID=TnL5HPStwNw&ranSiteID=TnL5HPStwNw-Fox27rDOKbUnUYwENFYqqw)

I want.

(Save yourself $20 and get it on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Kubricks-Napoleon-Greatest-Movie/dp/3836568896/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522094394&sr=8-1&keywords=the+greatest+movie+never+made))

I saw this too. Looks really nice. I think they did the 2001 book too, which I almost bought.