Cary Fukanaga Will Direct Stanley Kubrick’s NAPOLEON For HBO

A few weeks back, we heard Cary Fukunaga would be directing Stanley Kubrick's long-gestating Napoleon as a miniseries for HBO. This rumor, which seemed almost too good to be true, started with none other than Kubrick's longtime producer, Jan Harlan, and kicked around Twitter for a few days without any official confirmation or denial.

Which brings us to today's announcement:

HBO is preparing a miniseries based on Stanley Kubrick's research for a film dubbed his "greatest never made film" — a planned story on French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte's 19th century struggle to bring Europe under his total control. True Detective Emmy winner Cary Fukunaga is in talks to direct the mini, which is in development at the premium cable network.

(Steven) Spielberg, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey will exec produce the project via their Amblin Television banner.

This is excellent news for Kubrick nerds, it's excellent news for Fukunaga fans, and it's excellent news for Spielberg enthusiasts. Excellent news for people with excellent taste, in other words.

If you're not aware, Stanley Kubrick spent a large chunk of the '60s researching this project. He wrote a script, planned a number of elaborate battle sequences (some of which would have included tens of thousands of extras), and amassed close to 20,000 photos of Napoleonic-era ephemera to aid in production design. Entire books (very expensive books, I might add) have been written about this project, and for years we've heard rumors that it might find its way to HBO via another director (at one time, Baz Luhrman's name was in the mix). It's very exciting to learn that Napoleon is finally coming together, and doubly so considering the talent involved. 

No further details at the moment, but you can rest assured we'll keep you informed as they arrived. Please celebrate accordingly in the space below.