The director, after 13 years, is about to dispel a taboo that sees him unable to reach the 30 million gross for one of his films in the first weekend of programming. With ‘Napoleon’, the new historical drama starring Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby, it seems that the film could break Ridley Scott’s curse. A stigma that has followed the director for 13 years, when ‘Robin Hood’ was his last film released at the cinema to cross this important threshold.
In view of Thanksgiving, it was expected that in the US the film would gross between 22 and 25 million dollars at the box office over the five holidays. The historical epic, starring Joaquin Phoenix, earned $8.4 million on Friday and is expected to gross between $32 and $33 million in five days.
“Napoleon” — a win for Apple’s moviemaking ambitions — is exceeding expectations for an adult drama (most ticket buyers are over 35). ‘Napoleon’ is the second big hit from Apple Original Films after Martin Scorsese’s ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’, currently in theaters with Paramount. Apple Original Films fully financed the two films, both of which have Oscar ambitions. Sony is Apple’s global distribution and marketing partner for ‘Napoleon’.