Free Guy star Jodie Comer is confirmed to be joining Academy Award winner Joaquin Phoenix in director Ridley Scott’s upcoming Napoleon Bonaparte biopic, Kitbag. The actress, who is best known for her role in the critically-acclaimed series Killing Eve, will play Josephine opposite Phoenix’s Napoleon, with the project due to shoot “closer to the new year,” according to Comer.
Kitbag has been described as a historical drama about the military leader and emperor, with the title referring to a particular saying from that era which states “There is a general’s staff hidden in every soldier’s kitbag.” A brief description of the movie’s plot has also since been revealed and reads, “An original and personal look at Napoleon’s origins and his swift, ruthless climb to emperor, viewed through the prism of his addictive and often volatile relationship with his wife and one true love, Josephine.”
The movie will center on Napoleon’s “famous battles, relentless ambition and astounding strategic mind as an extraordinary military leader and war visionary,” with Phoenix’s performance as the iconic historical figure sure to be a major draw.
“I just jumped at the chance to work with Ridley and his team again and the idea of working with Joaquin Phoenix, who’s someone who I hugely admire,” Comer said of working alongside both the legendary director and Joker star in a recent interview. “I think for me, what I’m learning is […] you learn and you grow so much by being and working with the people that you’re working alongside. And I just think having that opportunity – I’m so excited to delve into that world.”
Kitbag will be the second collaboration between Jodie Comer and Gladiator director Ridley Scott with the actress scoring a starring role in another of the filmmaker’s historical dramas, The Last Duel. Starring alongside Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Ben Affleck, Harriet Walter, Nathaniel Parker, and Sam Hazeldine, The Last Duel is set in 14th-century France, and begins when Marguerite de Thibouville (Jodie Comer) claims she has been raped by her husband’s best friend. Her husband, knight Jean de Carrouges, challenges his friend and squire Jacques Le Gris to trial by combat. It is the last legally sanctioned duel in France’s history.
Based on the book of the same name by Eric Jager, and with a screenplay by Nicole Holofcener, Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon, The Last Duel looks like a triumphant return to the big screen for Ridley Scott, with the movie teasing the kind of epic, dramatic cinema that the celebrated filmmaker has become known for. The Last Duel is due to have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 10, 2021 and is scheduled to be released in the United States on October 15, 2021, by 20th Century Studios.
Jodie Comer meanwhile sees her star continue to rise, with the actress recently making an impression on the big screen in the Ryan Reynolds-starring Free Guy. She is also due to reprise her role as the wonderfully complex assassin Villanelle in the fourth and final season of Killing Eve alongside Sandra Oh, for which production is nearing completion. This comes to us from Variety.