Steven Spielberg will make the series ‘Napoleon’ based on the screenplay by Stanley Kubrick

Throughout the history of cinema, there have been many rejected projects that would forever change the conception of this art, such as Jodorowsky’s “Dune” or “Megalopolis”, which Francis Ford Coppola is working on again. But if there’s one title you’ve always wanted to see on the big screen, it’s ‘Napoleon’, which Steven Spielberg will now pick up and transform into a series based on Stanley Kubrick’s screenplay.

During a press conference at the Berlin Film Festival (via Deadline), Steven Spielberg has revealed that he will make a limited series of ‘Napoleon’, based on the original screenplay by Stanley Kubrick. This is one of the most passionate projects of the “The Shining” director, and one that he spent many years researching, which ended up being canceled due to the cost of the project.

“With the collaboration of Christiane Kubrick and Jan Harlan, we are putting together a gbig production for HBO based on the original screenplay by Stanleand, Napoleon. We are working on Napoleon as a seven-part limited series,” Steven Spielberg said. Until now, the “Jurassic Park” director has not provided any further details on the production stage of this title.

In 2016, HBO announced that it had purchased the rights to Stanley Kubrick’s screenplay and that “Napoleon’ would become a series written and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, the same person responsible for “True Detective” and “No Time to Die”. Since then it was known that only the script was finished, the production was just waiting for the green light.

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‘Napoleon’ with Steven Spielberg and Cary Fukunaga?

At the moment there are few details on the current status of ‘Napoleon’, because after the allegations of harassment and abuse by several women against Cary Fukunaga, it is unknown if he is still attached to the project. In this case, it was also not said whether Steven Spielberg is related as a producer of the series, or came to replace Fukunaga from his position, and remained its director.

The story of ‘Napoleon’ had to portray the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, and for this Stanley Kubrick had to carefully investigate every detail of the life of the French conqueror. The script was completely finished, but production was so expensive at the time, it was decided that the project had better be canceled before it continued to grow.

With the acclaimed director’s death, any chances of seeing the project have been buried. But over time, various attempts to revive his vision sunk into oblivion. The book “Stanley Kubrick’s Napoleon: The Greatest Movie Never Made” has also been released, which attempts to document this piece of modern cinema history.