Al Pacino is set to fulfil a long-standing ambition by playing Napoleon Bonaparte in an adaptation of the children’s book, Betsy & The Emperor.
OK, so it’s hardly Kubrick’s legendary unmade movie, Napoleon, but it certainly sounds intriguing.
The book, by Staton Rabin, tells the true story of English schoolgirl Betsy Balcombe, who forms an unlikely friendship with Bonaparte on her home island of St. Helena (where Bonaparte was famously exiled in 1815), and should provide a neat look at the great and terrible man towards the end of his life.
At the very least, we can look forward to Shouty Al getting his teeth around lines like, “An army marches on its stomach – hoo-ha!” and “England! Is! A! NATION! OF! SHOPKEEPERS!”
John Curran will direct the movie, from a script by Brian Edgar.