Cary Fukunaga Says TV Adaptation of Stanley Kubrick’s Unmade ‘Napoleon’ “Is Happening” With Scripts Already Written

After the massive success of “True Detective” and the acclaim of “Beasts of No Nation,” it appeared that Cary Fukunaga was all set to take on his biggest challenge yet, a project that would adapt Stanley Kubrick’s unproduced “Napoleon” feature into a TV series produced by Steven Spielberg. However, over the years, we haven’t heard too much about it. Now, a half-decade later, it appears Fukunaga is still working on it and is sure that the “Napoleon” project will happen.

READ MORE: ‘No Time To Die’: Daniel Craig’s Final Bow As James Bond Is Worth Toasting [Review]

As a quick history, Stanley Kubrick’s “Napoleon” film project is often cited as one of the most exciting features to never get made. After the success of ‘2001,’ Kubrick decided that he wanted to tell the definitive story about the legendary Napoleon Bonaparte. He hired Jack Nicholson to star in the film (obviously, well before “The Shining”) and seemed to be primed and ready to go for production. However, due to a variety of reasons, the project was never produced, and after the passing of Kubrick, it seemed like the film would never get made. But that all changed back in 2016, when it was revealed that Cary Fukunaga was brought on to direct a series based on Kubrick’s script for “Napoleon” that would be released by HBO and produced by Steven Spielberg.

Speaking to Collider, Cary Fukunaga revealed that he has “been working on [‘Napoleon’] now for, I wanna say, four or five years, maybe longer. So yeah, I’m definitely involved in that. We’ve got all the scripts of the episodes now and we’re getting ready to see where the next stage is on it. So it’s happening.”

READ MORE: ‘Eyes Wide Shut’: Stanley Kubrick Was Originally Interested In Woody Allen, Bill Murray & More For Lead Role

He added, “I’ve spent a lot of time in [Kurbrick’s] library and at the house at St. Albans with Christiane, his wife, and Jan [Harlan], his brother-in-law. It’s pretty awesome to just even be in the presence of Kubrick’s library.”

It would appear that now is the perfect time for movement on “Napoleon” to happen. Fukunaga is coming off the big release of “No Time to Die,” his biggest feature yet, and he basically has that sort of filmmaking golden ticket right now where any project can seemingly get that greenlight. So, if he really wants “Napoleon” to happen, especially with names like Kubrick and Spielberg attached, now is the time.

READ MORE: Terry Gilliam Was Going To Shoot Stanley Kubrick’s Unmade ‘Lunatic At Large’ Film, But Then Lockdown Happened

Of course, like most things, especially when it comes to Fukunaga (remember, the “It” situation?), things can change pretty quickly, so we can’t be too surprised if this all falls apart eventually. Until then, if you’re a fan of Fukunaga and Spielberg and/or really curious about another unmade Kubrick project possibly getting produced, “Napoleon” could be an interesting prospect.