Stanley Kubrick’s dream project about Napoleon Bonaparte included a 150-page screenplay, 25,000 cards with military details, and 50,000 Romanian soldiers for war scenes. Jack Nicholson was set to play the lead role, but the film never came to fruition due to high costs. Kubrick’s script is now with Steven Spielberg. Kubrick won only one Oscar in his career and was fired by Marlon Brando from One-Eyed Jacks. He kicked Jack Nicholson through 60 doors before approving the famous “Here’s Johnny!” scene in The Shining.
Director Stanley Kubrick was known to be very attentive to every detail of his work, so what would life on set have been like if he had been able to complete his dream project about the life of Napoleon Bonaparte? Kubrick not only wrote a 150-page screenplay that encompassed Napoleon’s entire life, from his romance with Josephine to his rampage on the battlefield, but he also compiled 25,000 cards on which he noted all the details of the maneuvers Napoleon’s military. But there’s more. Kubrick enlisted 50,000 Romanian soldiers to shoot war scenes, and Jack Nicholson – whom Kubrick would later direct in The Shining – is said to have signed on for the lead role. Other stars who were approached for the film included Audrey Hepburn, Peter O’Toole, Alec Guinness and Charlotte Rampling. But just like Napoleon meeting his Waterloo, Kubrick’s massive effort ended in failure. Despite Kubrick’s record of success – 2001: A Space Odyssey, for example – backers got cold feet from the costs that were piling up, and in the end the film never came to fruition. According to the latest report, Kubrick’s script was in the hands of none other than fellow movie whiz Steven Spielberg, so it’s possible Napoleon will finally be brought to life at some point.
A close-up on Stanley Kubrick:
Despite often being called one of the greatest directors in history, Kubrick won only one Oscar in his entire career: for visual effects in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Marlon Brando fired Kubrick as director of One-Eyed Jacks and directed it himself.
Kubrick kicked Jack Nicholson through 60 doors before finally approving the “Here’s Johnny!” scene in The Shining.
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