Steven Spielberg To Adapt Stanley Kubrick's 'Napoleon' Film Into a Limited Series

Turning the lost project into a seven-part limited HBO series.

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Steven Spielberg is onto his next big project, recently announcing that he will be adapting one of Stanley Kubrick‘s long lost films, Napoleon, into a seven-part limited series for HBO.

The critically acclaimed director has reportedly set the gears in motion for the film for the past seven years with the television network and is now “mounting a big production” for the series. At the Berlin Film Festival, Spielberg confirms the project, “With the co-operation of Christiane Kubrick and Jan Harlan, we’re mounting a large production for HBO based on Stanley’s original script Napoleon. We are working on Napoleon as a seven-part limited series.”

Kubrick originally had plans to make the film after the success of 2001: A Space Odyssey. He did extensive research on the French Revolutionary leader and even planned to film all across Europe, France, the UK and Romania. The project was also set to include around 40,000 soldiers and even set to have David Hemmings and Jack Nicholson star as the leader, reigning between 18014 and 1814. Audrey Hepburn was cast to be his wife Josephine.

Unfortunately, due to the filming costs of Sergei Bondarchuk’s adaptation of War and Peace and the commercial failure of Waterloo, he abandoned Napoleon and focused on filming Barry Lyndon. There is currently no word on who is cast and when the series will be released.

In other entertainment news, Anthony Mackie teases whether or not his Captain America will lead the Avengers.

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Joyce Li
Joyce Li Editor

For over half a decade, Joyce Li has served as an Editor on Hypebeast's global team, leveraging profound industry insights to capture the zeitgeist. Through her editorial lens, she anticipates emerging trends while dedicating her platform to spotlighting those making the greatest impact on culture today. A storyteller first and foremost, she examines the cross-pollination of fashion, footwear, art, music, and sports. This intersectional approach has led to compelling interviews with industry-defining figures like LeBron James, Pharrell Williams, Tom Brady, NIGO, A$AP Rocky, KAWS, and more.

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